LXVI
by kelevra94
Summary: Put on your mask. Light up the fires. Show them what their god is worth. [Comments and criticism/critique is appreciated.] On hiatus. Don't know where to go with this. You have an idea? Tell me.
1. Wrong Place

He blinked towards the blood red sun.

His body, shattered, torn apart, riddled with bullets still tried to lift itself from the muddy ground. It hadn't rained in days.

He tried to laugh, but only managed to voice a pathetic gurgling noise through the blood and shattered teeth.

Finally it had been done.

He, the ghost, the hunter, the reaper, death, had been defeated. His body had performed admirably. It had stood upright as the shells ripped his men apart and had merely shuddered when projectiles ripped into his flesh, so it was only fair of him to let it rest.

The guardian, the sentinel, the army of one, lay broken and surrounded by his slayers.

Dozens stood there, while hundreds moaned in agony, propped up on rifles and crutches or lay still forever.

A figure came in his clouding view, an officer with strange equipment on his harness and helmet, a pistol clutched in his hand. He wanted to congratulate him and his men, but only managed to gurgle more blood through his mouth and nose. He tried to sit again, only to hear his splintered bones crack and protest from within him.

He instead opted to show the officer a toothless grin, half in an attempt to mock him, half the contrary.

"Held it for quite some time, huh boy?" The officer said lowly and out of breath.

"Entire regiments swallowed in the attempt to take it from you. You don't appreciate being robbed, do you."

The man on the ground tried to chuckle, but again to no avail. He did appreciate their tenacity and their readiness to sacrifice thousands of lives just to get past him. Their resolve to doom the whole human race was truly admirably.

From the corner of his eye he saw the troopers, fools enter his station, the shrine, the abyss. He couldn't hinder them, he slowly became just another spirit in the void, without a chance to uphold his mission.

Not long before the cracks of gunfire were heard again, quickly followed by fearful screams of agony. He managed to turn his head to the entrance of the shrine, almost severing his spine in the process and saw it.

Hundreds of thousands of black tendrils shot from the gate. Dark energy penetrating every man, thing, grain of sand. The officer above him was screaming a command and was ripped to pieces by the black swirling tendrils. It was out. It would devour this world and perish around it, casting the surface in dead air and rot.

It was soon upon him, a shape of a young woman, levitating within the turning mass of dark. A shine in the shadow, that was illuminating everything except for him. She was the light in chains, he was the liberated dark, it had been so long.

He felt himself being picked up, upright to face her and formed a weak smile. She too smiled. A smile of unending sadness as tears streamed down her beautiful face.

'I'm so sorry.' She mouthed and he did too, not a second before he too was shredded to pieces from her might.

He had failed her.

LXVI_

Grimm had been swarming the forests around Vale for as long as historians bothered to keep up with. Beyond the walls of the four kingdoms, Remnant was a dangerous world under its shattered moon. Bandits prowled the wastes and thick woods and the creatures of the dark, the Grimm, did very much the same. Chances were, you'd only meet one of the former at a time, as Grimm would scare bandits away pretty reliably.

Right now, Grimm were turning the forests of Vale upside down. It had become increasingly dangerous to traverse these areas and there were still settlements outside the walls, so something had to be done.

Beacon was Vales biggest and most prestigious combat academy and had produced a great number of effective fighters. Huntsmen and huntresses those were called, as it was their primary duty to keep the dark creatures of Grimm in check. Unlike a military, huntsmen used their personal fighting styles and weaponry and worked in teams mostly, which made them highly effective combatants in a wide variety of situations.

Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon sat in his office within the massive gears of Beacon tower, following the progress of one of his teams, he had sent out to thin out the Grimm's lines and if possible find the source for the unusual behaviour.

Team RWBY was consisting of the leader, sixteen year old Ruby Rose, her two years older sister Yang Xiao Long, the SDC's heiress Weiss Schnee and lastly the young faunus woman Blake Belladonna.

They were making remarkable progress, destroying more enemy clusters as most other teams. Ozpin had only sent teams out, which stood out in their combat abilities and RWBY was one of the most gifted. They weren't alone though.

In other sectors of the forest, team JNPR and CFVY were working towards the same goal.

His gaze fell back to RWBY who had stopped in a large clearing. He tried reaching them per his radio, but all he got was static. They were okay though, as their aura levels suggested. He would trust them to keep themselves safe but a bit of caution had never hurt anyone, so he made contact with the other two teams and directed them toward team RWBY.

Ruby, cautiously stepped between two large beowulfs which seemed to be either dazed or not interested in the young woman, which was highly uncommon as Grimm normally attacked any human life on sight and couldn't be intimidated. Next to her, her partner Weiss stabbed a creep in the head, killing it without any attempts of defending itself. These Grimm seemed almost comatose, helpless in a way.

"I seriously don't like this, sis." Yang exclaimed from Ruby's left.

The clearing was filled with different kinds of Grimm, curled together, kneeling or standing with their heads lowered. They seemed to be facing towards the middle of the space, but whatever was there they couldn't see it yet.

Cautiously, not to stir any of the creatures from their inactivity, if that was even possible, they closed in on the center of the circle of Grimm and then, just stood there.

A huge vault stuck in the ground, as if dropped from the sky. It looked a lot like their rocket propelled lockers, in which they could store supplies for lengthy missions or when they were in a tight spot. Only this looked heavier, thicker, with a complex locking mechanism. A scripture had been engraved into the front in clean, practical font and Ruby took a few steps forward to read it to the rest of the girls who had set up a perimeter around the vault.

SCP-5551

-66

CLEARANCE LVL 6 REQUIRED

Read containment procedures before proceeding.

Then under it, clearly scratched into the metal.

Descendant of Able

Thy body shall lie

Thy rest shall be eternal

May we never need you again.

"This is kinda creepy." The red hooded girl muttered. She started to look the vault over again and found a lever on the side of the metal box.

"Ruby! What are you doing?" Weiss whispered yelled as she spotted the girl reach for the lever.

"We need to know what's inside. It may be the reason for all the Grimm out here." She answered, waiting for an approval from the others.

"We should be able to get to the treetops fast enough if something goes wrong." Blake said. "Ruby should open it, she is the fastest. We three could get ready to run or fight, whatever seems more safe."

"Okay." Came from Weiss and Yang simultaneously as they took a defensive stance.

Ruby just nodded and grabbed for the lever.

It seemed to be stuck a bit, as she had to apply a bit of force to it before it depressed and set an internal mechanism in motion. A series of mechanical noises rang through the vault and a hissing escaped it's cracks, accompanied by faint mist that faded to the ground.

LXVI_

The black nothing around him was beautiful, yet terrifying. Comforting but horrible.

He seemed to float, stand, lie, fall, all at the same time. He had accustomed to this new sensation, had finished dying and could now vanish without a regret.

But he didn't.

Instead he waited, for an eternity, forever before something drew his strained attention towards an anomaly in the void. Sirens blared from outside, which was remarkable, considering he didn't even have eyes or ears anymore. The sirens went on for as much or as little time as was needed before a dull light had ignited in the middle.

He sensed the outside, felt the air, the warmth. He smelled something faint like roses and something like wet fur as he slowly drifted at the small star and was finally enveloped in it's searing fire.

It had started to rain around RWBY as the mechanism had finally finished working and the vault's door, slowly, on itself, began to swing open, revealing something that the four girls could only compare to an ocean's horizon on a moon and starless night. An abyss so deep, it seemed to swallow any and all light that tried to illuminate the inside of the metal box.

They stood in awe and shock before what could only be described as a segment of true nothingness. As one they looked away, a feeling of nausea beginning to form in their heads. They did so for a few seconds until a heavy thump was heard from behind them, from the void.

The vault was still empty, but not full of the nether as it had been before. Instead the could now see the inside of the thing. Plain steel surfaces, unremarkable in any way, but something lay before it.

It was a young man.

He couldn't be much older than Weiss, Yang and Blake, but he seemed off somehow, as if he didn't belong here.

He was clad in a grey overall on which in white the letters LXVI were printed. The same letters could be found on the inside of his right wrist, tattooed on his smooth, sickly pale skin. Dark, greying black hair fell over his forehead, making it difficult to make out the upper part of his face.

"...by, Yang, Weiss, Blake? You receive me? The Grimm are moving again! You need to bail, now!"

The voice of Coco Adel, the leader of team CFVY snared over the radio of the girls, just as a nevermore above them voiced a piercing scream, that seemingly awoke the other Grimm in the clearing from their sleep.

Black furred bodies started to move around them, making the girls turn around and take a defensive stance.

"Ruby! We have to get out of here!" Weiss said over the rising growls of the creatures.

She had drawn her rapier and made to stand beside her partner while Yang and Blake did the same to their right.

"Yang! Grab the guy and let's move!"

Ruby yelled to her sister, while extending her sniper scythe 'crescent rose'.

"Yang?"

"He's gone!" The blonde brawler answered her little sister.

"What?"

"He's not here! We have to move!" Yang exclaimed just as a large ursa made to lunge for her. She dodged the massive claws and immediately retaliated with a buckshot powered punch to its face.

Then, hell broke loose.

"Coco! Jaune! We're pulling back. We think we found the objective! We're regrouping back at Beacon cliff!"

She received an affirmative from each team leader before every Grimm in the clearing charged at the armed teenagers, roaring and clawing the ground as dozens of dark bodies got moving.

Team RWBY dashed off, any direction as good as the other while they dodged and weaved through the tide, while occasionally parrying and slashing out. They had just reached the end of the clearing as the heard a massive screech, much too close for comfort.

"Nevermore!" Blake yelled roping herself up to a higher branch of one of the massive trees. Yang, Weiss and Ruby followed close behind and spotted the giant creature, just setting down at the foot of their tree.

"Open fire! Distract it, we need to move deeper into the woods, otherwise we will never lose that!"

Ruby called out, racking her weapon's bolt and taking aim at the giant crowlike creature.

The nevermore, before she managed to take a shot, let out another ear ringing scream and started thrashing around, making all four of the girls hesitate in their attack, before they realised what was happening.

Slowly, almost agonisingly, the nevermores head bent back, before a grey sleeved arm wrapped around to its throat. A pale hand opened and seemed to linger for a fraction of a second,

before clasping shut on the nevermores throat, immediately silencing its howls. Fingers dug into the dark flesh and almost closed to a fist, before the arm yanked back, ripping an enormous portion out of the creature's throat and breaking its neck in the process. The Grimm tumbled to the ground, black icor oozing from its demolished windpipe and as the head finally dropped, the girls saw the pale young man, standing atop the corpse of the bird-Grimm, staring squarely into them. His eyes were empty, almost white in color and each dotted with a massively widened pupil, that seemed to dilate wildly, while focusing on each of the huntresses.

Another Grimm, a smaller Ursa jumped atop the Nevermore and tried to get the drop on the dark haired man, only for him to turn around and brutally punching his fist through one of the creatures eyes, making it go limp within a second. Not a sound was heard from him.

"Uuh… hey?" Ruby said nervously, raising a hand for a weak wave.

He whirled around, his arms and torso still covered in dark, vaporising blood, as he fixed his gaze on the young girl.

"Move!" It was more a low growl than a yell, but each one was clearly able to understand him and it chilled them to the core.

LXVI_

He didn't question the presence of either these girls, nor of the black creatures with the white bone masks. He watched them take off and took note of the direction they were going.

He knew nothing. Not his name, not where he was, why or how. He knew not what time it was, what year. He couldn't even remember himself. He didn't question it though. It felt as if these information would come to him. Even if it just was on a need to know basis, like how to kill.

He had realized as he had dashed after the four ladies, that the dispatch of creatures took little effort from his side. Not that it wasn't taxing though. He had eliminated about five or four of these things and his arm felt weird. He already knew, that, without tools at least, he wouldn't live to see their end. He would come back later to clear this place.

Silently he took off into the direction of the four girls, occasionally tearing through another dark beast. He felt weak, nauseous, but couldn't determine the cause for it, as his blood was still coursing with adrenaline.

They were fast, he had to give them that. The red one with the silver eyes seemed to teleport between short distances, leaving a trail of rose petals behind every here and there. The blonde one propelled herself forward in intervals, using the recoil of shotgun blasts, he identified, the black and white one swung through the woods using her black ribbon with practised ease while the second most peculiar, besides the teleporting girl was the white haired girl. She used… magic? Some sorts of seal to propel herself.

He could only run. Sure he was a fast sprinter, but he soon lost them in his pursuit. Their direction still hadn't changed though as he noticed from the faint trails that the squadron left behind in the forest.

The growls behind him had mostly subsided, only sometimes a faint noise was heard from behind him. He slowed his sprint to a relaxed jog and immediately felt the pain in his arm. The punch through the first beasts head had shattered his arm and hand. Cradling his arm he kept on walking.

Not far from him, about five hundred meters towards his twelve, rose a steep cliff about one hundred and fifty meters upwards and up there, he saw a grey haired man in a black suit, looking down towards him.

LXVI_

Ruby was nervous. All the way from the clearing to Beacon cliff, she had felt a pang of guilt. It hadn't felt right leaving the boy behind so they could flee to safety. Now he was with professor Ozpin and he was hurt, because of her. Team RWBY had been sitting in front of the headmaster's office for quite some time now, as Glynda Goodwitch, professor Ozpin's right hand, stepped outside.

"The young man is fine. His arm is a little bruised, but he explicitly explained the situation to us and we have come to the conclusion that you have performed admirably."

"Who is he?" Blake asked curiously.

"That-" Ms. Goodwitch hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"That is unclear at the moment. He doesn't seem to remember all that much."

"He's an amnesiac? But he obliterated that Nevermore with nothing but his bare hands." Ruby said with clear astonishment in her voice. The fact that a human could just snap a bigger Grimm's neck was nothing if not a bit scary.

"Right now I am going to look into the tattoo on his wrist. LXVI sounds a lot like a team name to me and Ozpin.

"You will be notified if we find something, but right now, I'd like you four to meet with him and the headmaster. There are a few things he wishes to discuss with you."

She stepped away from the door to let the four girls in, then she closed the door behind them.

"Ah! Miss Rose and miss Xiao Long, miss Schnee and miss Belladona." Ozpin said, gesturing to each of the four team members, remaining seated at his desk while the young man had risen from his chair and turned to the girls.

"Pleasure to meet you." He said with a sheepish smile and extended his hand. He made a small bow every time he shook one of their hands.

Now was the first time that the members of team RWBY actually saw who they had met in the forest.

He was still wearing the grey jumpsuit with the white letters and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing the tattoo on his right wrist and the blueish marks on the arm with which he had killed the second Grimm.

he was slender and tall, taller than professor Ozpin even, but his posture was slightly hunched over and Blake in particular noticed that his knees were slightly bent at all times. His hair was dark, almost black, but with grey strands shimmering through every now and then.

The eyes. They looked sad, completely different to when they met in the woods. There, his eyes looked empty of all emotions except for pure controlled rage.

"Hey I'm Ruby. Just... like the Headmaster said. I mean, he already said that... our names." Ruby began to stutter, making her sister chuckle at her awkwardness.

"She wants to know your name. We're all very grateful for the stunt you pulled back in the woods. So yeah." Yang spoke for Ruby, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah that's... to be honest, I don't even know my name. It's just not there, like I never had one."

"Oh..." Ruby said nervously. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to be rude, please don't think..."

"It's fine, really." A small smile on his face.

A moment of silence fell on the room before blake spoke up again.

"What's with your tattoo? Could that be your team?"

"What? with this?" He raised his wrist to look at the four letters.

"I think it's a number."

"Wait? A number made from letters?"

"Yes. Latin numbers." He said, straightforwardly. "L stands for a fifty, X for a ten, V for a five, and I or a one. I thought that was pretty common knowledge."

"Sixty six then." Professor Ozpin finally cut in from behind his desk.

"It surprises me, but even I didn't know of this code for numbers, as well as the fact that the term 'latin' doesn't sound familiar to me."

The young man seemed to be contemplating something but the seemingly dropped it and looked back up.

"I'm sure it'll come back soon enough. Pretty sure of that. It just doesn't seem wrong, strangely."

"Well I'm not calling you by a number, that's for sure." Yang said while crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but the letters could spell 'Levi' if you'd put an 'E' for the X." Ruby exclaimed, quite happy with her idea.

"You can't just name someone."

"Why not? I'm certainly okay with it." Levi shrugged his shoulders.

"Sounds better that just sixty six, that's for sure."

"Yeah!" Ruby struck a pose, making Levi raise an eyebrow.

"If that's okay with you... we'll still need a last name for you, if we want to give you the necessary credentials."

"The safe said 'descendant of Able', whoever that might be." Weiss said.

"Levi Able. I've heard stranger names back in Atlas."

"I can go with that." Levi said, turning to the headmaster. "And you can just make valid credentials for me?"

"It certainly would have to go through the responsible authorities but that would be possible. There's one more hurdle though. We'd need a valid adress for you."

"Oh."

"Which brings my case home. Not many people are able to take on any kind of Grimm empty handed, much less an adult nevermore. This school-" He gestured at nothing particular.

"-Beacon, is one of the most prestigious combat academies on Remnant. we could provide you with lodging and knowledge for the coming four years and we would be able to validate your existence until we find out who you really are."

He finished and intertwined his fingers, calmly assessing the young man, who had listened intently.

"This sounds very good. But I'd have to ask what you want in return. As you know, I own nothing that I could give in return."

He said, before Ruby piped up excitedly again.

"You would become protector of the people after you graduate the academy. Like us! Huntsmen and Huntresses. It's a bit like the police or military, but much better, because we are not as strictly obligated and muuch, much cooler!"

Huntsman.

Hunter.

He didn't know why the word meant so much for him, but he felt something peculiar upon hearing the term.

"So I'd have a home and education in exchange for my service as a huntsman in the future." He clarified upon which he received a nod from the professor and a smile from Ruby and Yang.

"I'd like to do that."

"Very well then, Mr. Levi Able-"

Welcome to Beacon.


	2. Anomaly

"PUT DOWN THE GUNS, OR SHE'S DEAD!" The insurgent screamed while pressing the muzzle of his gun against the researcher's head.

She was a mess. Bleeding from the nose and mouth, her hair a in disarray and tears streaming from her eyes.

A dark haired, young man lay on the opposite end of the hallway. His legs stretched out and his eyes staring unwaveringly through the scope of his DMR.

His finger hovered only a mere millimeter over the trigger of his gun.

"IF YOU WANT ME DEAD, YOU HAVE TO SHOOT THROUGH HER! CAN YOU DO THIS? HUH?" The insurgent started to drag his hostage towards a door. A few meters then he would be out of his line of sight and out of reach for a clean kill.

"CAN YOU? I DON'T THINK SO! YOU VALUE YOUR WORKER DRONES TOO MUCH! YOU CAN'T!" He half laughed half screamed.

"I can."

The young man's calm voice rang through the intercom in the whole complex. The hard, cold sound of his tone made the insurgent pause in his actions and his eyes widen in fear. He ducked further behind the woman, making it even more impossible to kill him without doing the same to her.

"Sixty six." A voice came through his headphones. It was his commanding officer, Major Jones.

"The intruder can not be allowed to leave the facility. He has a keter-class item in his possession. You need to act now."

"Affirmative."

He answered, before keying the intercom again.

"Silvia, I am sorry."

The shot echeoed between the smooth surfaces of the hallway and his bipod left two faint scratches in the floor as it dragged a few centimeters back from the recoil.

His eyes had never left the scope as he watched the bullet punching through Silvia's throat, severing her spine and cracking the insurgents skull open behind her. Blood from both and gray matter from the latter sprayed on the wall behind them as they both collapsed and lay perfectly still.

Without a sound he picked himself up, leaving the sniper rifle on the floor and drawing his handgun from the holster on his leg.

Swift and silently he came closer to the two corpses

Silvia lay on top of the insurgent, her back bent over his body. He didn't try to avoid looking at her face that had a terribly betrayed look on it. She still seemed to cry, as the tears hadn't dried yet. Sixty six had liked her a lot. He had even bought her a new watch for her twenty fifth birthday, not a week ago.

He holstered the gun, gently lifted her body up with one hand and dragged the insurgent from under her. Shockingly he was still breathing.

His head was cracked open like a overripe watermelon and half his brain seemed to stick to the wall, but he still drew wheezing breaths.

Sixty six closed Silvia's eyes and softly brushed her hair out of her face and some over the small hole in her throat. She looked almost like she was sleeping now.

Then he turned around, drawing his K-BAR and grabbed the insurgent by his soaked hair.

It took a while, but finally he decapitated the braindead man and let his body sag to the ground with a wet thud.

"Task force containment team inbound in one. They'll take the item." Mj. Jones said over the radio.

"You did good, kid. Sometimes things like this happen."

"Yes sir."

LXVI_

"Ah! Mr. Able, I was noticed that you would join us from today. As I heard you're no stranger to combating the creatures of Grimm." Levi sat next to Blake in professor Port's class about Grimm anatomy and behaviour studies. The professor was a round, sympathy inducing man with a well groomed moustache and eyebrows that seemed to completely cover his eyes.

"Uhm. No sir, but I've come into contact with them before."

"Ho, ho! No false modesty, there Mr. Able. Professor Ozpin has told me all about you.

So I hope you wouldn't mind giving us a demonstration of your, surely admirable combat prowess?"

The professor had positioned himself next to a chest high cage, from where red eyes glared at the outside.

"Well I guess it would be okay." Levi said and shrugged off his the jacket of his newly acquired school uniform.

"It's probably a boarbatusk, judging from the cages size. Their backs are armored, but their underside is vulnerable." He heard Blake say lowly, while he rolled up his sleeves. As an answer he gave her a friendly smile and a nod and proceeded down to the space in front of the student's rows.

"Are you sure, you want to face this deadly creature unarmed Mr. Able?" Professor Port asked, raising a thick eyebrow at the empty handed student.

"You don't have to do this if you don't feel up to it."

"It's fine, Professor. Besides, I havent been able to procure a weapon yet, so my body will have to be enough. Like in the wild, right, professor?"

He answered, making the round man let out a goodhearted laugh.

"Very well spoken Mr. Able. Now, are you ready?"

He nodded, bending his knees a bit more and bringing his shoulders forward, making the shirt strain a bit over his back.

He had seen scetches of boarbatusks before and recognised them as armored versions of a normal boar. Like Blake said, their belly was their weak point, but as professor port knocked the lock off the cage and took a step back, something else shot out of it.

Humanoid, even though just vaguely. Excellent.

Two elongated arms protruded from hanging shoulders and terminated in four fingered hands. Each finger carried a long and razorsharp claw, as well as the muscled legs and feet. Two malicious, red glowing eyes glared at the young man as he readied himself for the creature's impact.

He sidestepped to his right at the last moment and felt one of the claws ick the skin on his cheek. Then, before the Grimm could escape his reach, his left hand shot outward, clasping down on the creatures left arm and bending it painfully behind it's back. The Grimm howled as bones snapped and it's arm went limp. Levi however was relentless.

With his right hand he yanked the creatures right arm back and bent it upward, leaving the thing with two broken arms and still in his grip.

He decided it was time for the coup de grace, so he grabbed at the creatures head, finding a firm grip in the black fur.

Taking a knee, he slammed the Grimms face into the granite floor. It flailed and screamed but he kept on, smashing the helpless thing's head into the ground again and again until the only audible sounds were the wet impacts of the meaty remains in his grip.

The class was silent as he rose, flicking vaporising, black blood at the floor, even professor Port, who had always something jovial to say was stunned for a moment.

The systematic annihilation of the creep had put a considerable damper on his cheerful mood.

"Well... thank you for the impressive display... Mr. Able. You may return to your seat."

Wordlessly, Levi walked back to his seat, wiping away his own blood from the scratch on his face.

Blake, Weiss, Yang and Ruby stared at him slack jawed as he calmly put his jacket back on and sat down, producing a tissue from his pocket and pressing it against his cheek.

"A bit excessive, don't you think?" Weiss said, while crossing her arms, distaste clearly audible in her voice.

"Kill or be killed. I didn't want to rely on the professor to come to my aid. That thing could have skewered me in a second."

"It was a controlled scenario. Professor Port would have intervened if your aura-level had dropped too much."

Levi raised an eyebrow and looked past Blake and Yang at Weiss.

"My what? What is aura?"

LXVI_

"Mr. Able."

Professor Ozpins tone was reprimanding for a reason he couldn't understand.

"You might be an amnesiac and have forgotten a lot about your own identity, but you surely haven't forgotten about something as fundamental as aura. Not if you're still able to read and write. You could have told us before, that you haven't had your aura unlocked yet."

"Wait a second! Unlocking? Aura? You've lost me again."

Professor ozping intertwined his fingers and stared at the young man for a few moments, before speaking up again.

"Hmmm. Is that so? Very interesting.

So it seems you actually have no idead what were talking about here." Levi nodded enthusiastically.

"Well then let me explain.

Every living thing on this planet, possesses a soul. All of them, save only the Grimm. Humans and faunus have ability to manifest said soul into a real, material form. We call that an aura. It protects the individual from harm and enables them to perform on superhuman levels in almost any imaginable way. The latter is called a semblance and every and anyone has only his or her 'one' semblance. On very rare occasions, dual semblances have been recorded, but they are so few, that they arent even listed in any statistics."

"So it is what? A defense mechanism?"

"Not always. It is mostly controlled consciously, even though, yes, a semblance can kick in on reflex or under severe stress."

"Like a shield?"

"As well as a sword."

"So miss Roses speed is..."

"Yes, it's her semblance."

Levi rubbed his chin in thought for a few moments. If every living thing had an aura and at least every human and faunus could generate a semblance, that should mean, he too was capable of such.

He pointed at the scratch on his face, that had been covered with a small band aid.

"The Grimm was able to hurt me because I don't have this 'aura' unlocked. But I should, generally be able to generate one. How do I unlock it?"

"Well, normally it comes on its own. Most people experience their first aura flares in their infant years. Sometimes it takes much longer."

"So I just have to wait? I can do that, but this 'aura' could also give me another edge in combat."

"That is certainly correct. We still have to decide how to integrate you in one of the teams. Knowing your full potential would certainly aid me in this decision. That's why I would prefer, we take the other option."

"Which would be?"

"Manual unlocking. It takes a lot of practice, but it is possible to unlock someone's aura, using ones own. That's why I have asked one of your fellow students to come here and help you out a bit."

He keyed the intercom with a button on his desk.

"Ms. Nikos. Could you join us please?"

The door swung open and a girl with fiery red hair entered the room. She looked a bit nervous, as her gaze fell on him. Probably because she had seen his display in professor Port's class before. He extended his hand and extended a hand, which she shook, while giving her a friendly smile, that seemed to put her a bit at ease.

Still something was bothering him.

"Hi. I'm Levi, nice to meet you."

"Pyrrha. Nice to meet you too."

He knew her.

LXVI_

"That was kind of creepy." Yang said out loud, as all four members of RWBY had gathered at their room. The other three girls just nodded in agreement.

"Where do you think he learned to fight like that? It seemed controlled somehow, but..."

She asked and seemingly drifted off at her last sentence.

"I've seen this before." Blake said, picking up one of her books.

"He seems like someone who is used to fight people."

"Yes. But not even the police or the military train to fight like that. He totally destroyed that Grimm, without weapons or even aura."

"Some Atlas-Specialists could do that, but he seems too young for that." Weiss said in thought.

"The White Fang trained recruits to fight humans. But then, we don't really kknow if he's a faunus either." Blake said, while absently staring at the pages.

"It's worrying to say the least."

Ruby had been silent since they had left Port's class. She too had been shocked by what she had seen, but she didn't like how the other members of her team started to antagonize Levi.

"He has been nothing but nice to us since we found him. Maybe he is just not used to fight with an aura. Who knows what he's been through before."

"You're right. We probably shouldn't just judge like that. He has done nothing yet that would warrant us being suspicious." Yang said. She was actually eager to learn more about the young man's apparent abilities in hand to hand combat.

"Where is he anyway?"

LXVI_

Pyrrha felt more exhausted than she had expected. She sat down on one of the chairs and looked at Levi, who sat across from her on another.

Professor Ozpin seemed to watch him intently, as he seemed not to move at all. A few moments passed but nothing happened, not even the gears in Ozpins office moved.

Wait.

The gears were still, Ozpin was still, Levi was still. She rushed towards the window and took a look at tge courtyard. There, seemingly frozen, she could see students teachers, even leafs that had fallen from the trees, stayed suspended in the air.

"That is weird." A voice from behind her made her whirl around and instinctively adopt a fighting stance.

It was Levi, standing beside his own body, still sitting in the chair.

"What is this?" Pyrrha snapped, instantly regretting it, as a sad and confused frown from came over Levi's face.

"I don't know. Have you unlocked my aura?"

"I think so." She dropped her guard and came over to Levi's sitting form as standing Levi turned the window.

"This is not normal then, I guess?"

"No. definitely not."

They stood like that for a few more moments, both contemplating their situation.

Finally Levi spoke up again, turning towards her from where he stood at the window.

"Did we meet before?"

Pyrrha was caught a little off guard. She hadnt expected a question like this in such a situation.

"I don't think so."

"Hm. It's just because you seem familiar somehow. I just can't explain it."

"I had a few brand deals after some tournaments back home. Maybe that's why?"

"No. You seem actually familiar."

They stood in silence for a few more seconds.

"It probably doesn't matter. I don't really understand all this." He slightly raised his hands and dropped them again in a gesture of frustration.

"I thought that I could just accept having lost my memory-"

Pyrrha wanted to say something comforting, but she had no idea what.

"- but this is starting to mess with me. I'm sorry to have brought you into this."

She gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's okay. Let's just focus on getting out of this."

After a while of looking around, both realised that they could neither leave the room, nor interact with anything except for themselves and each other. The doors wouldn't budge a millimeter and the bodies and objects in the room remained stubbornly still, like they were made of stone.

Minutes ran by, without one of them making any progress.

"Levi. Why is this happening?" Pyrrha half asked, half pleaded to the young man, the reassurance in her voice completely gone by now. She was scared.

"Levi! Answer me!"

"I'm thinking okay?"

He tried not to snap at her, but he was getting nervous too.

Generation aura, unlocking someone's aura, those were common things. That's how Ozpin explained them to him at least. Pyrrha was practiced in unlocking aura, otherwise Ozpin wouldn't have asked her to do it. The only real unknown in this, was he.

What a maddening truth, realising one doesn't belong to a place he thought was his home. Only, that Levi didn't think of Remnant as his home, for as much as he knew, he could have not even existed before Ruby had opened that safe in the forest.

But now, something inside him was working, calculating. The answer was there and he knew that he knew it.

"Pyrrha. Give me your sword."

"What? Why? We already tried breaking the door, it wont work."

"Trust me on this one. I'm sure about this."

She hesitantly drew her blade and gave it to him grip first. Silently he took it with both hands, did a few practice swings before stopping, seemingly in thought but satisfied with the weapon.

"What are you doing?" She asked as Levi walked to the other side of the room.

"You might want to look away." He said and Pyrrha realised what he was about to do.

"LEVI! DON'T!"

The blade swung upward through his Windpipe and spine, severing Levi's head cleanly from his torso and then...

...then she was back.

"Don't what?" Professor Ozpin asked, genuine concern in his voice.

Pyrrha stood in front of the seated Levi again. One hand of hers had been on his chest, the other on his forehead, like it had felt right. The young man before her was nursing his neck, a faint shimmer visible where his skin was exposed.

"Pyrrha I'm fine. It wasn't real."

She stared at him and patted down her form, to find her sword still at her side, securely in its transforming sheath.

"I don't... I don't understand. What happened?"

"Indeed. That's what I would like to know." Ozpin cut in again, a barely audible hint of inpatience in his voice.

"I just- I think I unlocked his aura, but then everything became... frozen? And only me and Levi could move and we couldn't do anything and then..." Pyrrha took a deep breath.

"...and then he killed himself!"

Ozpin raused an eyebrow at this to which Levi could only ask himself how in the world he could stay this calm.

"Ms. Nikos are you feeling unwell?"

"What she says is true. At least I think that is what happened. I took Ms. Nikos' sword and decapitated myself and now were back here again."

"You decapitated yourself." The professor more stated than asked.

"Yes sir. I am also not sure if the whole process worked. I don't feel any different than before."

"Well, that at least we can clear up rather quickly."

The silver haired man said and produced a small cube from his desk drawer.

"Is that a measuring or testing device? How does it work?"

The professor stood up and threw the cube at the young man with a good amount of force. Levi held up his arms in defense, before he realised that he hadn't felt the hit. Instead when he looked at the ground, he only saw the broken remains of the small object.

"Good. Your aura seems to have unlocked just fine. If you'd lend me your scroll for a moment?"

Hesitantly, Levi pulled out the device that Ms. Goodwitch had given him on his day of enrollment and placed it in Ozpins open hand.

The professor tipped away at the scroll before once again raising an eyebrow and muttering.

"Interesting."

He made few more adjustments before giving Levi the scroll back.

"What is 'interesting', professor?" Levi looked at the device which now displayed a short red bar, that was depleted by about an eighth.

"For someone with your abilities, I expected a much higher level of aura. You see, aura is directly connected to ones soul. The stronger the individual, the more powerful their aura. At least there is a tendency. Right now, your aura level is equivalent of that of a small child. I wouldn't recommend relying on it in combat too much, but as you've shown before, you are very capable of defending yourself, even without aura."

"I don't understand. I probably didn't do it right."

Pyrrha said apologetically.

"I would like to try again, with Levi's permission."

"Ms. Nikos, I am sure there is nothing you could have done differently." Ozpin held up a hand in a calming gesture.

"Pyrrha, what happened was unexpected for both of us. Whatever happened, you're not at fault for this. Besides, the headmaster is right, I'm going to be fine, even without aura and if it can take even just one or two hits for me it's going to be a massive edge in combat."

She looked between the two men for a moment before letting out a little sigh.

"Levi, professor Ozpin, with your permission, I would like to go back to my dorm and rest. This whole ordeal has been rather... exhausting."

"Of course, if there is anything you want to talk about, please don't hesitate to ask." The headmaster said, before getting out of his chair and seeing her out. He closed the door behind the redheaded girl and turned to face Levi.

"Mr. Able, I can see that you have something to say."

"Yes, professor. I'm going to need a weapon."

LXVI_

"And he sent you to us with that?" Weiss asked rather incredulously at Levi. The girls had been studying when he had knocked on their door, explaining his lack of armament.

"He said, Ms. Rose would be happy to help with that. He also gave me a small allowance, should I need to purchase something."

"Sooo let me get this straight." Ruby started, suddenly wide awake, as she had been dozing off over her textbook for theblast twenty minutes.

"Ozpin wants us-" She gestured to her and her team. "-to get you-" She pointed at him. "-a weapon."

"That is correct."

"Yess! This is going to be soo much fun, I know a great place in the city where I get all my stuff, you're going to be a total badass, what do you think you need, are you a brawler type like my sis or a rather a long range kinda guy, or maybe you want to keep the balance, or you might want to use something completely different, they have all kinds of stuff there, likmmmph-"

She was cut off by her sister, who threw a corgi-shaped pillow at the little scythe wielder.

"Sorry but when it comes to weapons, she can get like this."

Levi couldn't help but smile at the display in front of him.

"It's okay. Though I think I have a fair bit of knowledge regarding weapons myself. Even though, I can't seem to remember anything about this dust substance."

"Oh you think you know weapons?" Ruby had a challenging look on her face.

"So how about a little face off after we get back."

"To break in the new equipment? Why not?"

An evil smile broadened her lips.

"What are the stakes?"

"Let's keep this a test run. We can still make bets later."

"I'll hold you up to that." Ruby said, already checking her scroll.

"We could go tomorrow morning, so we don't have to rush anything. You're probably going to need a few new clothes too. I'm sure we could also help you pick a few things."

"That would be nice. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah, yeah, let's say 9 am. Have a nice night."

Weiss said hastily and gently pushed the young man out the door. She closed it before he could say anything and turned back to Ruby.

"Seriously, what are you thinking sometimes? He is obviously dangerous and you basically invite him to a nice outing."

"Calm down ice queen, I thought we agreed on putting this past us."

"Don't... I agreed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Nothing more. Now it's too late anyway, I just wanted to say what I think of all this."

Levi's voice suddenly came through the door, making Weiss stand still as stone.

"Is this about the Grimm earlier?"

"Are you eavesdropping on us!?"

She practically ripped the door open to see a confused Levi on the other side.

"I didn't come far and the walls are thin. And just to explain myself, what I did to this... creep? It might have looked excessive to you, I just didn't want to be disembowled."

"How about your aura? Could Pyrrha help you?"

Blake said, from behind her book. All three girls were surprised to hear her speak. It was easy to forget she was there with how she tended to keep to herself most of the time.

"My aura is there but weak. I'm going to have to rely on what I can do now. That's what Ozpin said." He sighed a little frustrated before adopting a calmer tone.

"Sorry if I seem a little agitated, it's just... a lot of new information for me to process. So just to be clear, I am no threat to you or anyone."

"Alright." Weiss said a bit sheepishly and added. "Sorry for talking behind your back."

"It's okay. We'll meet tomorrow. Thank you again." Levi said, closing the door again.

"Bravo, Weiss. Bravo." Yang clapped slowly.

Outside the door, just a few meters down the hallway, Levi's scroll rang. He fished it out of his pocket and answered the call, holding it up to his face. A black silhouette stared him down, lights in the background making it completely impossible to determine the persons features, but Levi recognised her form to be slender and feminine.

"Good evening sixty six. In the name of the foundation, I'd like to welcome you to this brand new world."


	3. Collateral Damage

@Gasmaskjack: I left an answer in the commentsection, because I am retarded.

@Evinco: Oh you want old gods? Just you wait for the fucking old gods :D

AN: As for the story: I know that it may take while to pick up some momentum (Or not. You tell me.) until I have decided where to go with that thing. I am still establishing Levi as a character and right now I cant really be bothered to rewatch every RWBY episode twice or thrice to memorise all the small plots. I'll have to push Levi's stresslevel a bit, so I can decide if he is a god or a monster.

Oh, and thank you for the suggestions.

- _"It's quite funny actually, but I don't know if I should laugh or cry. We tried to completely wipe his memory, you know? A clean template._ _But he lost his mind and killed our god."-_

LXVI_

The bullhead's engines roared as the transport lost altitude and went to land on the city's own airport.

The flight had gone by rather uneventful and Ruby had not stopped, peppering Levi with questions about what gear and weapons he thought of buying.

He thought he would take the girls up on Ruby's offer to buy some clothes first. Besides two sets of school uniform, he only possessed the grey jumpsuit which he had worn when they had first met in the woods. Tying the sleeves of said jumpsuit behind his back and rolling his shoulders, he stepped out the air vehicle and into the bright sun of an early morning.

As they walked towards the city and the store, Ruby wanted to show him, Yang fell back a bit from her team, so she now walked besides Levi who had walked slightest behind him.

"Soo, you threw some pretty mean punches yesterday. Where'd you learn that?"

He regarded her with a quick look. Somehow her out-of-class-outfit was even skimpier than the short skirts oh their school uniforms.

"I couldn't tell you. I just did what seemed right. Probably looked silly too."

"Well it actually looked pretty coordinated. Strategically even... maybe."

"I watched you four in the woods as we were fleeing the forest. You looked all pretty practiced. A bit flashy maybe, but well..."

"Flashy? What do you mean with flashy?" The group rounded a corner.

"I mean with all the flips and rolls and jumps and stuff. At some points it looked like you guys were acrobats instead of warriors. Or ninjas."

"And how would you fight then? Oh great master of practicality?" Yang teased with a smirk.

"Move only when necessary. Kill the enemy as fast as possible, I guess. Oh, that or the triple D's."

"Tripl-"

"Demoralise, Disable, Dispatch. Though this strategem requires a far more long winded approach. Psychological warfare and such."

Yang smirked again.

"Yeah, that wont work on Grimm. They don't feel fear, or anything else really."

"So I've heard, but you don't think you'll exclusively fighting Grimm if your task is to keep up order in general. I've heard of quite a number of roving bands of bandits in some kingdoms, that pretty much rule the countryside."

There was a moment of silence between the two before they rounded another corner and Ruby happily turned around, practically beaming at Levi.

"This is the place!" She made a dramatic gesture at the storefront. "Supliiees." She added, which seemed to be the name of the store. The windows were closed with shutters and it would have seemed closed, if not for a sign on the glass door that stated the opposite. All five of them entered, each eliciting a small chime from a small bell near the door and Levi had to stop and look for a moment.

The store was kept very clean and practical, with neat shelves lining the walls and light and smooth lighting that comfortably illuminated the wares on display.

The shelves were reasonably stocked with parts and some whole weapons. Some with different types of ammunition or tools, but it was obvious that Levi was expected to build his own weapon.

"Hey there little reaper." Came a booming voice from the back of the store and Levi watched a mountain of a man make his way to the front. He was at least two meters tall, had a muscular build and a red scruffy beard. Friendly eyes, with a hint of an esge glinted from behind round glasses.

"What can I do for my most high-toned customer?"

"Hey Mr. Norgad. I'm not here to buy anything today. We're looking for a suitable weapon for Levi here." Ruby pointed at the young man with her thumb.

"Oh. Marvellous, another aspiring huntsman. My name is Anton Norgad, weaponsmith and engineer by heart. How may I help you?"

Levi had looked a bit lost in the room full of weapon parts and equipment, but as he spoke, everyone, including Norgad was surprised by his straightforwardness.

"I'll need a sturdy customisable handgun, preferably in 45.ACP or 5.7mm*. A melee weapon and a modular assault rifle, a carbine model if possible and it should be capable of automatic fire. Let's see..." He paused for a moment.

"Also if your stock allows it, I'd like a designated marksman rifle, the highest caliber you think is practical and a light machine gun."

The shopkeep and the four girls regarded Levi with more than a few strange looks.

"Thats quite a shopping list you got there. Sounds more like military equipment to me than that of a huntsman." Norgad said.

"I don't need all of it now. A gun and a knife should be well enough for now."

"Do you want to carry all these guns around with you?" Yang asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"You're going to be over encumbered before you know it. If I was in your spot, I'd try to find a transformable."

"Maybe you're right." Levi turned to the gunsmith.

"Is it possible to integrate all those systems into a single weapon?"

"Well, not in a practical way, to be honest. But if I may ask, why do you need three rifles anyway?"

Levi turned to Yang, a satisfied look on his face, then back to the gunsmith.

"Right tool for the any situation. I'd need a few options for customisation of course, but I didn't plan on carrying all the guns around all the time. The handgun would be my permanent and primary weapon."

Norgad led the young man to a section of his store, where Levi examined a few pistols, testing the grip and weight, as well as the action and the magazine release. After a couple of minutes, he decided on an older Atlas Military model, chambered in 45.ACP and matte black in colour*.

Weiss already had the same distasteful look on her face upon looking at the plain, industrial looking weapon. Levi also bought a couple of toos, parts and attachments for cleaning and customising his weapon.

"Have you served in the military, boy? You certainly seem to know your firearms, but for a huntsman, your taste in weaponry is rather... how should I put it? Plain?"

"I like to call it practical."

"Of course. A no nonsense kind of guy. I myself served in the mistralian royal support corps for twelve years. I can tell if someone is a fellow military man."

"I..."

"He aborted the Atlesian specialist course and opted to become a huntsman, right Levi?" Weiss cut in quickly, subtly nudging him with her foot.

"Ah, I see." Norgad said, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

"Special forces then. Guess you longed for a bit more freedom then, right?"

"They expected a lot on the personal level." Levi quickly caught up, trying to end the conversation. Weiss was right. It was probably better if he didn't shout out his partial amnesia to everyone.

They then looked over a selection of short swords and knives from which Levi took particular interest in a bayonet style knife which was capable of extending its blade from twenty centimeters to an impressive length of ninety centimeters.

"That's all I can do for you at the moment, but for the rest of your equipment, I can select and order a few sample models which you can try and choose from later. I'll give you a ring on your scroll when they arrive."

"That would be great, I really appreciate it."

"And because you're such a nice customer, I'll throw in a few magazines and holders and you can choose a holster from my wall."

A few minutes later, the gun rested comfortably upside down on the back of Levi's belt, with the knife just below it. The magazines sat on his left side in polymer holsters. A box of 45. in both hollow point and armor piercing varieties was tugged under his arm and the box of miscellaneous equipment and tools hung from his right hand.

"I'll need to buy a backpack soon."

He said, while Ruby beamed from behind his back, still staring at the weapon in it's holster.

She, apart from her partner, Weiss had encouraged him to get the gun that felt right and ignore the aesthetics for now, not that he didn't do that from the start, but she was proud nevertheless.

"Yeah! Now how about some new clothes for you!" She said enthusiasticly, practically jumping up and down.

"I know a place that would suit you just fine." Yang cut in.

"You're all about practicality, you can have practicality. Blake!"

"You don't know where it is anymore, right?"

Blake answered a bit tiredly. It was obvious she had zoned out for a few minutes there.

"Nope! Also I've wanted to wake up Ms.'I'm gonna fall asleep while standing' a little bit."

Blake gave an annoyed huff, waving them out the door after they all said their goodbyes.

An hour later, the five of them left a surprisingly versatile outlet store, Levi thought. He now wore a comfortably fitting black suit, with a white shirt and dark red tie. Weiss's and Blake's suggestions.

His new military backpack now not only carried his equipment and ammunition, but also a some miscellaneous laundry, a new pair of boots, a few combat shirts and dark cargo pants. The girls had tried to persuade him to pick a few "badass" accessories, like a long flowing scarf or a skull-shaped mask, but he politely refused every time, arguing that he had to watch his expenses and could only afford what was absolutely necessary.

"You know, you actually look pretty sharp in this. And you're right, if you're not leaning forward, the gun and the knive is almost invisible." Yang was obviously checking the young man out, as she took a good long look at his backside.

"Yang!" Ruby said while lightly stomping on her older sisters foot.

"Aww. jealous?"

LXVI_

 _"Emplacement. Two clicks north, coordinates coming. Fire for effect."_

 _"Received. Gun's hot."_

 _"Confirmed. Good kill. Next target. half a click south southwest. coordinates coming. Fire for effect."_

 _"Please confirm, sixty six. There's obviously civilians down there."_

 _"Confirmed. We don't have the time. Fire."_

 _"Received. Firing."_

 _"Confirmed. Target destroyed."_

Levi rapidly sat up, panting heavily and drenched in cold sweat.

What a weird dream. What a nightmare. It had been his voice, his eyes, glued to the thermal images in his scope. But all seemed so real, like it wasn't a dream at all, but a memory. In his inner eye, the scene of children and women, being ripped apart by long range artillery replayed itself again and again.

He swung his legs out of his bed and pulled on a shirt and sweatpants, before fishing a pack of cigarettes from his backpack. Of course smoking on school grounds was prohibited, but a quick look on his alarm clock told him it was three in the morning. Way too late for most to be still awake and to early for anyone to be up yet. Stealthily he stepped out of his room and past RWBY's and JNPR's doors, to one of the wide balconies, where he carefully placed an ashtray and lighted his cigarette.

A few minutes he stood there, looking down on vale, quietly blowing blueish smoke into the night sky.

"Next time, I see you polluting the fresh air in Beacon, I'll have you reprimanded, Mr. Able."

Glynda Goodwitch's voice suddenly sounded behind him. It would have startled him, hadn't he heard her move quietly down the hallway, towards him.

"I am sorry Ms. Goodwitch, I was a bit stressed out." He quickly extinguished the cigarette, closed the ashtray and put it into his pocket.

"So I realised. What has you so upset? A bad dream?"

"It felt more like a memory."

"Maybe it is, even if you don't like it. Can I ask what you... 'dreamt'?"

The professor leaned against one of the columns, a strange sight as she mostly was seen standing at attention with her riding crop and scroll.

"Yes... I was in someplace... high. With a rifle.

Coordinated artillery strikes on some... armed positions. They had something very dangerous, hidden somewhere. Had to be destroyed or billions could die..."

He put the ashtray back on the railirailing and before Glynda could stop him, he ignited another cigarette.

"Mr. Able, I understand..."

"We used white phosphorus in a densely populated area to sanitise the AOEs."

He cut her off and saw her recoil visibly.

"You seem to know what it does to a body. But we had to be sure. There was no time to be precise. The more I think about it, it feels much more like it really happened. It didn't feel right or wrong. It just... I just felt nothing. I am not scared of the collaterals I saw, I am scared because I didn't seem to care at all."

"In this dream, you did what had to be done. The ones who can do this, are often branded as monsters and murderers. But history has shown them to be both, necessary and dangerous."

"Professor, if you're trying to cheer me up, you certainly have room for improvement."

"I am not trying to cheer you up, Mr. Able. I saw your display against the Grimm in professor Port's class.

You didn't fight, you destroyed your enemy. Very effective, but also very dangerous if left unchecked.

But you have also shown control and methodical thinking.

I have my fair share of worries regarding the safety of keeping you around, but I don't think you are a bad person. Just the fact that you're beating yourself up over it, shows that you care."

She gave him the faintest of smiles and turned to leave.

"You should go back to bed. Tomorrow I will put you up against another student. You should be rested then, otherwise, you won't stand a chance against her."

LXVI_

"Mr. Arc, even though you've lost this time, your form has dramatically improved and you managed to hold your ground much longer than last time. Your additional effort seems to pay dividends. Very good."

Levi watched the blonde boy, now named Jaune Arc pick himself up with the help of Yang and leave the stage.

"For all the others. Remember that there is always room for improvement. Mr. Arc managed to catch Ms. Xiao Long by surprise more than once. Overestimating yourself is a quick way to be beaten.

Now.

If Ms. Pyrrha Nikos and Mr. Levi Able would please enter the stage. Mr. Able, I'm sure you're already familiar with our rules, but just to stay conform to the protocol, if one of the combatants aura-levels hits the red, the fight is over. Please refrain from holding back as I won't be able to accurately rate your ability if you do.

Any questions?"

Both, Levi and Pyrrha shook their head.

"Very well. Get ready. The siren marks the beginning of the match."

Pyrrha would be lying if she said she was comfortable with fighting Levi. Not because of their weird experience in Ozpins office, but because of how she saw him how he fought Grimm. It was unnerving, seeing him put up his guard, even more so as he now drew a mean looking knife, made from shadowed metal. He held the weapon in a reverse grip, the straight blade glinting dangerously in the lights overhead. He gave her a miniscule smile, but as the siren blared, it immediately vanished and was replaced by a mask. Pale eyes bored into her like needles as they stood before each other, waiting, for the other to make the first move.

Pyrrha struck first.

She dashed forward, her shield and Sword at the ready. Levi couldn't help but wonder, how she could move so fast with such high heels as she already slammed into him, lifting his feet off the ground and making him slide back a couple of meters on his knees.

"His aura!" Ruby said out loud while pointing to the bar representing Levi's aura. The single hit had taken away more than a half of his energy.

Pyrrha raced at him again, brandishing her blade. He sidestepped hastily, narrowly avoiding a second hit and lifted his own weapon. The blade extended rapidly and he struck. Following Pyrrha with his eyes, he predicted the trajectory of his strike, a definite hit.

And he missed.

He followed up with another strike, but again, the blade went above her by mere millimeters.

Dashing back, he evaded a hit by Pyrrha's transformed weapon, now a pilum and dropped his knife just as Pyrrha was closing in for another attack.

Pyrrha saw Levi drop his weapon and almost halted. For a split second she actually thought he was about to forfeit but then she realised that his right hand went behind his back. She picked up speed again, but he closed in slightly and she only managed to hit him with the shaft of her spear, while the bladed tip bounced uselessly behind him.

Suddenly she felt a hand at her throat, lifting her off the ground. Her eyes met Levi's for a millisecond before she felt a flurry of violent impacts in her abdomen and chest.

He was shooting. While tricking and grabbing her, he had drawn his gun and started firing at her from point blanc range.

Violently, she impacted on the ground, shoulders first and her weapons clattered away.

She reflexively tried to get up and reach for them, but something was holding her down. Looking up, she saw Levi, both of his knees firmly planted on each of her shoulders and a menacing looking gun in both hands, close to his body, but directly aimed down at her forehead.

Se tried one last time to struggle aginst him, but he only shook his head with those blank piercing eyes. He wasn't shaking his head at her performance. He was asking her to stop, so he wouldn't have to pull the trigger.

"Match end" Glynda Goodwitch called out, cutting through the impossible silence.

Levi immediately got up from Pyrrha, clicked on the safety on his gun and holstered it.

"Are you okay?"

He glanced down at her abdomen, sighing relieved that the six bullets didn't seem to have broken through skin or clothing and reached down for her hand.

"Yes. I am fine." She said as he pulled her to her feet. The edge in his eyes was gone and replaced with a friendly look of worry.

"That was an impressive move, youve beaten me so fast."

Levi just pointed at the screens with his thumb and Pyrrha looked at where their aura levels were displayed.

The bullets to her stomach had taken quite a chunk out of her aura. Her level stood at 72% while Levi's level was at 8%, two percent below the allowed minimum. He had her at his mercy, but he had still lost.

"The winner by tournament rules is Pyrrha Nikos." Miss Goodwitch announced.

"Even though, in a real combat scenario, this would have possibly ended very undesirable for Ms. Nikos.

Mr. Able, I must say, I'm impressed. You have managed to seriously impede one of our most skilled huntresses and you have displayed remarkable tactical skill and self control.

A great fight, from both of you. Please sit."

Pyrrha went to sit down, while Levi stayed behind and collected his knife and the spent bullet casings.

"Pyrrha, are you okay?" Jaune asked worry in his voice as she sat.

"That was brutal, did he hurt you?"

"Yes Jaune, I am fine." She said smiling while nursing her slightly sore throat.

"HE BEAT YOU!" Nora Valkyrie, the pink haired, bubbly girl of JNPR practically yelled.

"HE TRICKED YOU AND HE TOTALLY BEAT YOU! DID YOU SEE THAT?" She roughly pantomimed the throw Levi used on Pyrrha while firing an imaginary gun from her hip, making shooting noises with her mouth. Even Pyrrha had to admit, it looked pretty cool if that was how Levi did it and not an exaggeration by the borderline crazy girl.

"Nora, come on. sit down." Her partner Lie Ren said, following Levi with his eyes as subtly as possible.

Levi walked up beside Pyrrha.

He felt a little weird because of the stares the dark haired boy with the accents gave him. Was he checking him out? If so, it was most disconcerting, because he might had to tell him at some point that ha didn't really have the hots for men.

"Your throat okay?"

He asked Pyrrha to which she nodded.

"Yes. A little rough but everything's fine."

"I'm sorry, normally I would've grabbed the cloth at the shoulder or the chest... but you don't have anything there which would be appropriate to get a grip on."

Levi scratched his neck while saying this, making Pyrrha blush heavily under her fiery red hair.

"Anyway, had the trick with the knife not worked, I would have definitely lost anyway. You're an awesome fighter. We should do that again sometime."

With that he left a flustered Pyrrha, next to a whispering Jaune, as he went for his own seat.

"Well, he seems nice."

A/N

What a coincidence that the people of Remnant have taken up the same measures and designations for calibres in firearms as we have, right? :P

Just imagine a HK USP.45 with a slightly longer slide and an ambidextrous slide release lever.


	4. Spooks

A/N: So I am doing something here that hardcore SCP-fans might hate and I know that, but bear in mind that I'm opening up options for me to pursue my story in. As for other scips, I'm unsure, but thinking about it.

LXVI_

 _-"That fucking monster? Yeah I remember him!_

 _I'm one of the people who aren't allowed to request amnestetics, so I remember fucking well._

 _So I don't know what they did to him and I dont want to, but you're telling me, they managed to make another one?"-_

LXVI_

Levi cast his gaze down into the valley, his eyes constantly searching for movement and generally things that seemed out of place. Finding nothing he resumed to what he was doing before. Walking.

He, Karin, Mato, and Lukas had been walking for days now, the scenery the same eveverywhere. The ground was sticky and they had to watch their feet, to avoid tripping over the many bodies. For several kilometers now, the ground had been covered with the red, mangled corpses. Disturbingly, the fact that it was impossible to determine the corpses gender, ages or appearances, made it easier to move among them for such a long period of time. Had they not worn the heavy MICA-suits with their sealed helmets, the stench would probably have been unbearable. Levi longed for a cigarette, but he didn't want to risk breathing in the foul air around him.

"Six!" Karin, his teams sniper waved him over. Normally he would have been adressed as 'Actual', Karin with 'One', Mato with 'Two' and Lukas with 'Three'.

Ahmad had died weeks ago, he had been the original 'One'.

Levi hefted his rifle and jogged over to her, following her pointed arm towards a spot in the distance. She pointed at a person, kneeling and hunched over as it shivered and whined.

"It's a girl." She said and the team of four started to move immediately. Minutes passed without a spoken word, just the team moving forward cautiously, their guns raised and covering each other as they stepped through the field of death until they stood before the girl.

She was young, seventeen or eighteen maybe and had wild, blonde hair that cascaded down her back. She cried uncontrollably and it took Levi a second to register that she was cradling another body in her arms. A slender figure, smaller and unmoving.

"Ma'am?" Levi said and made to move around her to see the body in her arms, his gun pointed at the ground, but still tightly in his grip.

"Ma'am, is there a way we can help?"

Suddenly her eyes shot up, an alarming shade of red.

"HE KILLED HER! HE KILLED HER!"

She broke down in another crying fit.

"I'm sorry. If there is anything we can do-"

"HE KILLED EVERYONE! Blake. Weiss... Ruby."

Levi kneeled down beside her and looked at tge body in her arms. It was ananother young girl, smaller than the blonde and with dark hair with red in it. The deep slash across her chest contrasted hard with the pale skin around it.

"Who did this?"

She didn't answer.

"Who has done this to you?"

"IT WAS YOU!"

LXVI_

Levi was glad that he had fallen out of his bed and woken up, even though he now had a bloody eyebrow and his nose hurt. It was seven in the morning, which meant that he had at least got a full night's sleep, something that had been increasingly difficult for him to come by in the last few weeks.

Apparently he was also not very good at hiding it, as he had been asked repeatedly if he was alright, primarily by the members of RWBY and JNPR. Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha especially. It was obvious that they worried about him.

Levi grabbed his scroll and pulled on his sweatpants to make his way to the bathroom. He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a good three minutes, trying to remember where he had gotten his scars. The biggest one of them ran from his collar all the way down, across his stomach to his upper thigh. It looked jagged and unclean as if it had been inflicted by a claw or tooth. Other star shaped wounds were probably inflicted by projectiles, while some where clean and short where a blade had probably punctured his skin.

His left shoulder bore a branched mark that looked like he had been severely electrocuted. Grey eyes followed the raised scar tissue down to his wrist were the LXVI was tattooed on his skin.

He would need to get into that at some point.

He showered and shaved off the five o'clock shadow that had formed on his face, carefully going over the little cuts that rauses his skin on his cheeks and chin. He thought back to the first day he remembered, the day he met team RWBY in the woods around Beacon and fought the Nevermore. He had met the charge of a minor Ursa head on by punching it in its ugly mug and definitely broke his arm in the process. None of the doctors that examined it, questioned his astounding regenerative abilities, as his arm had completely healed within a few days. They probably were told not to mention it to him, as to not further confuse him.

His scroll rang, pulling him out of his thoughts and he fiddled it out of his pocket. A new message from an unknown number.

"Sixty six,

we spoke the other day. My higher ups have decided that it's time you learned about some things. You have been excused from your scholary duties for two days. Please meet me at the main entrance of Beacon-academy. I, hopefully won't have to remind you to come alone.

-C-"

Levi hurried, quickly putting on his tactical gear and loading his handgun, he rushed out the door of his bedroom, not noticing the red caped girl in the hallway that had a toothbrush still sticking out of her mouth.

He arrived at the main entrance not five minutes later and waited carefully, his hand hovering over the gun on his back. It took a moment before he sensed the sound of a pair of engines rapidly closiclosing in. Another moment later he had visual contact. It was a slim looking air vehicle. VTOL-engines like a bullhead, but smaller and much, much more silent. The VTOL touched down about twenty meters away from him and he watched as one of the side doors slid open and revealed it's passengers.

Four soldiers disembarked first, both wearing completely white uniforms, balaclavas and helmets, which had white faceplates, currently folded up and carrying white rifles. Their vests and gear was olive, with an occasional speck of orange, where a hook or a patch was fastened.

They fanned out, securing the perimeter, giving way for Levi to look at the two others that climbed out the VTOL, a petite woman and a tall man.

By now, Levi had drawn his gun and held it in a semi-ready position in front of him, like he had learned... somewhere. Even as the soldiers just moved past him, to kneel down in the grass before the school, he didn't holster it. He was surrounded by unknowns, possible hostiles and he wouldn't let his guard down, without a good reason.

The woman stepped forward. She was short, maybe 1,60 meters in height, but had the friendly smile and the swagger in her step suggested great confidence in her abilities. Light green eyes looked at... into him from under her raven hair, that was bundled behind her head in a messy ponytail. She was holding a bigger version of a scroll in her hand and was wearing a lab coat and a skirt.

The man behind her was very much the opposite from her. At least 1,90 meters in height and of a build that had to come from years of rigorous training he fixated Levi and the gun with steely, grey eyes. he wore the same uniform as the soldiers, but instead of a helmet he wore an olive beret and carried no rifle, definitely an officer.

The woman stepped forward and extemded her hand, making Levi lower his gun.

"Sixty six, I'm Dr. Mina Carter. thank you for complying to my invitation on such short a notice. We would like to get to know you."

"I've taken to call myself Levi. And who is "we"?"

"All in due time, Levi... Lllevi. Levi." She parroted, making Levi give her a strange look.

"Levi. I like it. Wouldn't have been comfortable with adressing you with a number anyway. Now would you be so kind as to give major Kurtz here your gun. I can sense him becoming more nervous by the minute."

Hesitantly, Levi spun the gun in his hand and gave it to the officer grip first, who took it appreciatively and stored it in an empty pouch on his vest. Only then, he too extended his hand.

"Major Jeremy Kurtz, I'm in charge of security here."

"Noticed that." The young man answere with a nod, before Dr. Carter began speaking again.

"As much as I'd like to continue chatting here in this picturesque landscape, let's continue our conversation in the Vulture." She pointed at the white VTOL and lead Levi to the open side door.

"Contact! One o'clock!" One of the soldiers called and immediately the four of them shut their armored faceplates and raised their rifles, the two in front pointing in the designated direction, while the other two moved behind the two in front, keeping their firing vectors. Kurtz drew his sidearm.

"Come out! Hands in the air!"

Obeying the soldier's command, a very flustered Ruby came slowly walking out of a nearby bush, her hands impossibly hugh above her head and her eyes filled with fear.

Dr. Carter let out a breath she had been holding in and took a more relaxed stance before speaking.

"Oh. Ms. Rose. Nice to meet you.

Levi, it looks like you were followed, or is this a mere coincidence?"

"Unlikely. It's early in the morning and she and her group mostly hurry to class due to oversleeping." Kurtz said and let out a sigh, holstering his gun.

"Barrels down boys, she's not a hostile."

"You can take your hands down, Ms. Rose, but please keep them visible, we know of the weapon on your back."

Ruby, still intimidated, let her hands fall to her sides.

"I wasn't... I wasn't-"

"You weren't? Following him?" Dr. Carter said in a friendly tone.

"Not... intentionally. I-I just saw Levi rush from his room and I thought something had happened. I didn't think you had some... what are you doing here anyway?"

"I received a message from..." He gestured to the small doctor. "Ms. Carter here. She called me sixtybsix and said we need to talk and well, since I seem to be poking in the dark about myself and my past, I grasped at the first straw... yeah."

"Can you keep a secret?" Dr. Carter asked, to which Kurtz immediately lost himself.

"Mina, what the fuck! You can't be considering-"

"Oh, shut it Jeremy. She is a good girl, I'm sure. Also, the world will find out eventually."

"You're committing a major breach of security! The rules-" He yelled before the doctor cut him off again.

"The rules were made by the people in zero! Did it do them any good? No! They're dead! I am planning on doing something against it, while we still can!" The small woman and the Major had a terrible staring contest, that would have reduced any lesser man to a whimpering mess until Kurtz gave another resigned sigh and took a step back.

"Alright Mina. Your responsibility. But if the rest of O5 hears about this, they're going to lose their shit."

"They should for a change! They've done fucking nothing than tossing cash down their throats for years. This is my chance to show these cocksuckers how they should do their shit!"

"Ma'am, language." One of the faceless soldiers remarked with a nod towards Ruby who had been listening rather astonished to the foul mouthed doctor's rantings.

"You're right."

She sighed before turning to Ruby and Levi, both had just stood there for the last few minutes, with Ruby stepping a bit behind Levi, who had apparently just stopped listening a while ago and had opted to observing a small bird on a nearby branch.

"Soo, you two can keep a secret, right?"

LXVI_

Ruby wasn't sure what to make of this. She and her team had spent a lot of the last few days worrying about Levi and his restlessness and suddenly he met with a group of people who she not only never heard about, but who were also heavily armed and apparently highly secretive about their work. Now though, a high member of said group, Dr. Carter, was unloading a literal pandora's box of information on her and Levi, while the Vulture sped over the landscape.

"We work for the foundation here on Remnant and I know, you probably, hopefully have never heard of us, because we couldn't have done what we did in the past with people running around and sticking their noses in our businesses. And a way, we still can't. The council would start to regulate us if all their members knew of our existence and we need total freedom to do what we do."

"Which is?" Levi made a rotating gesture with his right hand.

"We secure anomalous objects, phenomena and entities, contain them, or destroy them and protect the population of Remnant. That is our mission statement, secure, contain, protect."

"Anomalous phenomena?"

"everything that is not 'normal'." The doctor made quotation marks with her fingers.

"To put it blandly: weird and dangerous... things, of any kind, really."

She explained a few examples, one more unnerving than the others then went on about the structure of the organisation for a few minutes, explaining different facilities, called 'Sites' and a bit of how the designation system for the SCPs or 'skips' worked.

"But I need to get to the point." She said finally, while leaning back in her seat and toying a bit with the scrolls they had taken from Levi and Ruby.

"Our foundation is not the only one. There are others in... other... worlds. Well I'm not sure how to explain that without making it confusing, but let's just say, there are several... worlds and on one of those, the original foundation was... founded. We call that world 'zero'."

"Wait, back at Beacon, you said that all the people from zero were dead!"

"That's right. Something happened and that something wiped humanity off the face of that world. The foundation there tried to stop it, but eventually they stopped actively combating this 'something' and instead went over to saving all the assets they could and that's where you come in."

She pointed at Levi, an apologetic smile forming on her face.

"Me?"

"Exactly. Remember your first day here? The safe you fell out of? Containment chamber. SCP-5551-66. I wish there was an easy way of telling you, but there isn't, so I guess it doesn't matter. Levi you are-"

"An SCP."

There were a few moments of silence before Ruby laid her hand on his shoulder and spoke up.

"Levi. You're not just... that, okay? You are Levi. Our friend."

"Sure."

"Levi?" She lightly squeezed his shoulder.

"I'm fine." He said, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

"I am sure that this is hard for you, but we, the foundation, need you. You were the ace up the sleeve of zero's foundation and I am not letting this world fall victim to whatever happened there. We still have time, so we still have chances." Dr. Carter said, half apologising, half pleading.

"So my nightmares-"

"Are probably memories."

"Oh god."

Now Kurtz leaned forward, staring into Levi's eyes. It was the look of a man who had seen a lot and regretted most of it.

"You did what you had to do. You have been burdened with terrible strength in a world that stood on the brink of destruction and you did your best to save it. I don't know what you saw back at zero, but we have been keeping an eye on you since you're here and we have read what zero gave us. You're not a bad person, you're just one of those who did what was necessary instead of cowering in the shelters and bunkers. We know, we can't possibly make you like what we have to do, but we won't let the people of Remnant die and we know, neither will you."

The dampened roar of the engines filled the compartment again. Ruby had again reclined further into her seat and the small doctor eyed Levi with a pained look.

One of the soldiers patted Levi on the back, his faceplate still down, but his body language suggested great amounts of sympathy.

"You learn to accept it." He said, his voice slightly distorted, coming from the helmet's speakers.

"And when you know that you're the reason, the people out there, human and faunus, doesn't matter, are able to live a peaceful life because of you... it becomes less of a burden and more of an honor."

The soldier pulled up his faceplate with a hissing sound as the sealed helmet opened, revealing stark, yellow eyes in the otherwise covered face.

"That's why we do it. We fight in the dark, so the rest of the world can live in the light.

RIGHT STRIKER?" He suddenly roared and received a 'OORAH!' from the rest of his squad.

"Oorah." Kurtz said more calmly.

"What do you say?"

Levi stared back at the Major but he could see steel in his eyes. A fire that had been smoldering until now, but now was rekindled.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Go to school. We will be in touch."

LXVI_

It was 7:45 now and the Vulture was circling back to the academy. Sitting in a fast moving aerial vehicle that produced it's fair share of noise, apparently made it very difficult to spy on conversations, even though they let Ruby listen to everything just like that. On the other hand, they made clear that none of that information was allowed to reach the public and that violation of that rule would have severe consequences. Dr. Carter said something about amnestetic drugs and neither Ruby nor Levi wanted to experience those firsthand. There was still one thithing though that bugged him.

"Dr. Carter!" He said over the noise of the Vulture touching down.

"The inscription on the safe, the one that was scratched in, it said: 'descendant of Able'. What does that mean?"

"Levi, believe me! You probably don't want to know."

"Well, wrong about that. I think I have a right to know."

She contemplated it for a moment before handing him and Ruby their scrolls and typing something on hers.

"I'm sending you a file. It's heavily redacted so don't be disapointed. You will have fifteen minutes to read it, after that, it will delete itself without trace from your scroll. Don't say I didn't warn you though."

"Thank you doctor." He nodded and disembarked behind Ruby, receiving another reassuring pat on the back from one of the soldiers, before they closed the doors and the Vulture took off into the sky again, soon vanishing from their line of sight.

"You know that you don't have to do any of what they said." Ruby told him while they trotted back to the school. Her team would surely ask questions as to where they had been.

"I believe them. It feels as if I've heard all this before." He answered and the young girl could hear from his grim tone that a lot had been cleared up for him.

He looked at his scroll to see a new file in his shortcuts.

"SCP-076."

He read out loud.

"That's a far cry from 5551. Do you think they strictly number them chronologically?"

"I don't know. It could be possible that they choose random numbers to make it more difficult to discern a pattern. But if not, well than it means they had at least 5551 horrible things in their possession."

"You're not one of them."

"No. You're right." He gave her a small smile.

"Even though it was a bit scary to see you fight Pyrrha."

He laughed at that.

"I was holding back."

"Liar!" Ruby laughed, punching him in the side.

They made it back to the academy in comfortable silence and went to their respective rooms, Levi wanting to read the file the doctor gave him and Ruby steeling herself for her sisters teasing.

The door hadn't even completely shut behind her.

"Where has my dearest little sister beeeeen?"

"Yang."

"Ruby where have you been?" Weiss came from the bathroom, fixing her signature ponytail.

"We have been looking for you, class is about to start."

"Has she been out with a boooy?"

"Yang!"

"Levi wasn't in his room."Blake muttered from behind her book.

"BLAKE!" She sounded so betrayed, it made Blake chuckle and Yang pause for a second.

"Wait, really?" She asked finally. "Levi? Ruby, I don't even think that's legal. He is like five or six years older than you."

Her tone was suddenly very serious.

"Yang! It's nothing like that!"

"Oh did he tell you that? I'm going to kick his ass!"

Ruby was as red as her cape by now.

"Yang! I thought he was in trouble okay? And then there were these people in the white uniforms and the doctor-woman and they told us all this weird stuff about him being the ace up their sleeves and how they will save the world and... oh no!"

"White uniforms?" Blake asked, her ears twitching.

"Oh shit! I wasn't supposed to tell you that!" Ruby sunk to her knees, dramatically.

"Oh shit? What's with that langua- what was that about white uniforms?"

"Ruby! Those are criminals! What did they have to say to Levi? Is he one of them?" Weiss just barely outrivaled Blake in agitation on the subject.

"What? Why do you? Oh no! Not the white fang! These were... No!"

"What no?"

"I'm not saying any more! It's not the white fang, but have said too much already." She crossed her arms while standing up.

"We will ask Levi! He will know you told upfff-" Further Weiss didn't get as a corgi-shaped pillow hit her in the face.

LXVI_

 _Item #: SCP-076_

 _Object classification: Keter_

 _Containment procedures: Containment Area 25b is to be located 200m below sea level, tunneled out of solid bedrock in a seismologically stable area..._

 _...an Outer Security Perimeter against outside threats, staffed by security personnel trained in close quarters battle..._

 _...150m "killing corridor" which is to be the sole access to the PCZ from the ASA..._

 _...this will, by necessity, result in the deaths of all on-site staff._

"What the fuck!" Levi muttered as he read through the bland document. Whatever this monster of a man was, that was described here, he refused to believe what was inscribed on his 'sarcophagus'. He was not a descendant of that... thing.

 _Addendum 076-3: [REDACTED] was possible at [REDACTED] through [REDACTED] to obtain genetic material and [DATA EXPUNGED] via a specialised retrovirus._

Genetic material? What kind of mad science did these people at 'zero' conduct? Was this how desperate they were? To try and replicate a Keter-class item!

Wait, that word meant something to him. Something bad.

"LEVI! OPEN THE DOOR OR I'LL BUST IT DOWN!"

Possible end of all human life or life in general.

"LEVI! I SWEAR TO GOD!"

"Yang!"

XK class end of the world scenario.

"LEVI!"

Yang banged at the door again, the lack of her gauntlets only slightly reducing the noise, when the door suddenly flew open and she almost hit Levi square in the teeth, had he not deftly caught her fist in his hand.

"WHAT!? CAN'T ONE EVEN HAVE A SILENT MELTDOWN IN THIS PLACE?"

He yelled, the obvious rage in his voice making it more into a deep roar than an actual human sound. Yang had seemingly stopped breathing, Ruby and Weiss shrunk even further and Blake had sped back into their room, peeking through the doorframe, much like all four members of team JNPR.

"Sorry!" Ruby mumbled while throwing Levi guilty glances.

LXVI_


	5. Automaton

A/N: Chapter is a bit shorter, but I hope that I've chosen a good point to pick up later again.

Also still unsure as to where in the story I should pick up. I kind of already went in the direction of the team knowing about Blake's faunus heritage and involvement with the white fang, so that's already a thing.

LXVI_

"Really?"

Team RWBY, JNPR and Levi sat down after their little clash at the dorms, to eat breakfast and in RWBY's and Levi's case, clear some things up.

"You were able to keep this morning's events a secret for pretty much thirty minutes. What happened? Did they water board you, or pill your nails?"

"Nooo! Levi, I'm so sorry! I'm just so bad at all this secrecy-spy-thing." Ruby looked apologetically at Levi. Those puppy eyes should be illegal. He sighed and took a bite of his sandwich.

"She is, actually." Yang said, gently ruffling her little sister's hair.

"She is a teenage girl, I should have expected that much. The only one out of you four, who would have been able to keep it in is probably Blake."

"Hey!" Weiss and Yang exclaimed simultaneously.

"Why me?"

He just pointed at her bow, to which she narrowed her eyes.

"How did you find out?"

"Behaviour, movement in the bow, your preference for fish in most of your food-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, alright."

"It's your own business and I won't care or tell. Ruby however..."

He once again lowered his gaze to the smaller girl, who visibly shrunk into her seat. These eyes of him, while normally friendly or indifferent, could also stare into ones soul.

"I'm sorry!" She muttered, her eyes in her lap and her shoulders slumped down. It was obvious she was truly regretful.

"It's okay." Levi huffed. "Did you tell them everything?"

She shook her head.

"Do that... when you four are **alone** , it's classified information after all. But they won't stop pestering you with it and you would have a hard time not budging again."

"Really? And what about the amnestes... amnse..."

"Amnestetics? They knew your name,they probably also knew you're an open book to your friends and family. If they haven't calculated that in, they probably deserve their intel to leak."

Ruby had regained her standard happy smile.

"Alright then, so there were-"

"Ruby? do you know what the term classified information means, or **alone**?"

"Rightright... sorry." Puppy eyes.

"Stop that!"

"Mr. Able?" Glynda Goodwitch suddenly appeared behind him.

"The headmaster wishes to speak to you when you have finished. You too Ms. Rose."

"Of course professor." Levi wolfed down the rest of his sandwich and made to stand. Ruby had already finished.

"What does he want?" She asked.

"He will probably be explaining himself. Now you'll have to excuse me, Mr. Winchester is going to be in trouble." The blonde teacher said and strode off nonchalantly, towards Cardin Winchester, the school bully, who had just, in another racist escapade, tripped a smaller faunus boy, making him spill his food all over the floor.

"We should probably go." Levi stood beside Ruby, glaring at the hulking, blonde boy.

"What? But Cardin-"

"I have a feeling he will have a few hard days for this." He responded to her, just as Goodwitch menacingly raised her voice behind them.

LXVI_

As usual, Ozpin sat behind his desk, his hands clasped in front of his face as he intensively studied the two students in front of him from behind his round glasses.

Ruby was becoming increasingly nervous under the headmaster's stare, while Levi was rivalling Ozpin in the stare off.

"Mr. Able." The headmaster began.

"You have met a mutual acquaintance of us..."

"Dr. Carter."

"Yes. A brilliant woman, although I have tried to minimise my contact with the foundation.

Mr. Able, the day Ms. Rose and her team found you in the forest, one Mr. Night contacted me and informed me of a certain individual that had already come to my attention earlier.

That Mr. Night, of course a codename, also informed me of your absence for the next two days."

"Yes, I guess there was a change of plans."

"As it seems.

However my contact has left a little parting gift for you, Mr. Able, as well as strict instructions not to inform the public of what we know of your true identity. I would advise, you stay your current course and we await further contact with that enigmatic organisation of yours. Apparently they place great trust in you."

"Yes. Though I don't know why or how I might be an asset to them."

Ozpin gave him a knowing smile.

"Believe me, the foundation is comprised of highly professional individuals. They are truly an invisible giant in this world, believe me."

Levi leaned forward.

"Then how do you know of them? No offense, but you being headmaster of a school, even one like Beacon, hardly makes it comprehensible to have such information and contacts."

Ozpin chuckled lightly.

"Mr. Able, I think it's safe to say that someday may be the time to explain that arrangement to you. Now however, I'm afraid it is not."

"Very well."

"Wait a minute!" Ruby cut in, excitedly. "You are just going to accept that? Professor! You knew of this all along?"

"Ms. Rose, I assure you that there are very little things of which I or my associates have no knowledge. The foundation is one of them. To this day we are not sure of their goals or dealings on remnant, but we are certain that they're an organisation that is working hard to ensure the safety of everyone."

"Things that no mere man should carelssly delve into." Levi said, making Ozpin raise an eyebrow.

"Yes, Mr. Able. Things along the lines of that." There was a brief pause before he continued.

"However, my contact has left you a few things that I would like you to take a look at."

He gestured to a big, reinforced polymer crate in the back of the room and Levi wordlessly stood up to open it, ruby close behind him.

It had no lock, just a small screen on the front that prompted him to verify his Identity with his thumb imprint. He pressed his finger on the surface and it unlocked immediately. He lifted up the lid and the red hooded girl almost began to shake from excitement.

Neatly arranged, on a seperated layer of the case lay sets of an uniform, similar to the ones the foundation soldiers had worn, but pitch black in colour. Pants, boots, combat shirts, jackets and reinforced gloves. A modular tactical vest and a helmet with rails and the previously seen faceplate rested on one side and Levi picked up the helmet and turned it in his hands. It seemed heavier in design, as well as the vest and the faceplate looked like it sported additional ocular systems.

"Put it ooon!" Ruby urged, excitedly jumping up and down, but immediately turned bright red and turned away, as Levi unbuttoned his shirt and unbuckled his belt.

"Warn me before you do that!"

It didn't take long. In fact, both Ruby and Ozpin were surprised at the speed that he donned his new clothing. Practiced moves closed zippers and velcro patches untile he was completely covered in the eerie black cloth and armor, except for his head.

Then he opened the second compartment and cast a look inside, before he began to grin.

"Ruby, you may want to see this." He said as he pulled one item out of the box.

"Whooa!"

HK433. 5.56x45mm. His preferred 16.5 inch barrel and customised charging handle. A stubby foregrip, lasersight and flashlight. On top sat his aimpoint red dot sight with the tiltable magnifier fastened behind it. He didn't really remember anything from his past, but he was sure, this was his gun.

"Norgad is going to be disappointed."

"It looks so... mean! Can I hold it?"

He handed the unloaded rifle to her and watched in amusement as she checked the chamber and the sights with nimble hands. The gun nut was evident.

Then he turned back to the box and took account of it's other contents.

A considerable collection of small arms of every kind, including several pistols, a heavily customised AK5, an MG3 that had been modified to be used as a squad assault weapon, a Kriss Vector as well as two sniper rifles. An SR25 and one that was definitely custom made. It looked like a Kar98 but had a polymer stock and body, a rail on top and was apparently chambered in .308 Remington,a calibre of which Levi wasn't even sure he had seen any here on Remnant.

Ruby was practically drooling at this point, so he took the rifle from her before she dripped saliva on it and slung it over his torso with its sling.

Armored fingers locked tightly around the grip and his face spoke volumes about how he felt. He seemed comfortable, at peace, even though a grim smile crept on his face that made Ruby uncomfortable.

"It looks heavy." She said, still examining the numerous pouches and little slings that now covered his torso.

"Is that... yours?"

"Yeah." He said, letting the rifle hang from it's sling and grabbing the helmet.

"I think so."

Ruby had always seen soldiers and policemen as something 'cool' and mostly even comforting, as men and women in uniform provided safety and helped the people, right?

The black and industrial looking attire Levi now wore, however did not look assuring in the slightest. The complete contrary even.

He put on his helmet and closed the solid faceplate, making it just barely imaginable that under all that armor and gear was a human being and not a soulless robot. The slight red glow from the six ocular sensors made that imagery only more believable and his posture suggested high sense of comfort with it.

The figure in front of her wasn't the friendly boy she had gotten to know.

This was a completely different man.

LXVI_

Levi activated the helmet's systems and was pleased as the helmet sealed up with the armor, the interface loaded up and greeted him with an oddly familiar

'MICA-system operational. Profile loaded. Welcome back operator sixty six.'.

The light intrusive feeling, as the piece of equipment connected with his nervous system was gone in a moments notice and replaced with an euphoric feeling of safety and power.

He looked down at Ruby and noticed that the young girl took an intimidated step backwards. It was obvious he was scaring her, but it somehow felt... right.

She should be afraid of him, it was only natural.

In a world full of wolfs, he was the hunter. He was the predator.

How easy it would be just to...

He quickly shook the notion from his mind and looked at Ozpin, who had watched the whole endeavour with interest. Levi opened the helmet up again and took it off, a sadistic grin still splitting his visage.

"This will do nicely, sir." He said, adding the 'sir' out of an embedded reflex that had resurfaced just now.

Levi had learned a lot in these last minutes and even though none of that was pretty, he felt as if he was coming back together.

"Very well, Mr. Able. It's good that you feel comfortable with that. I can have the box delivered to your room today. As for now, I will allow you to use this on missions and in combat classes. However, I'm suggesting you take the helmet off when engaging in conversation with other students. That mask is rather... off putting." The headmaster said with a friendly smile, but his tone was serious.

"Yes sir." Levi answered.

"Also, 'headmaster' or 'professor' will suffice. This is not a military academy, my boy."

"Of course, professor."

"Very well, you are dismissed." Ozpin said finally.

"Ms. Goodwitch's class will start in about fifteen minutes, so I suggest you two get going."

He watched the two departing towards the arenas and waited until the doors were shut before pressing a few buttons on his console, to which a split screen of five black silhouettes appeared on his holographic display.

"Headmaster. What a pleasant surprise. So I assume your newest student is making progress?"

Ozpin once again folded his hands and glowered over the rims of his glasses at the camera.

"So it seems, Dr. Carter."

So it seems.

LXVI_

"Levi Able and Cardin Winchester! Please go to the locker rooms and outfit yourself for the sparring!" Professor Goodwitch's enhanced voice echoed through the arena.

Levi stood up from his seat and received a spiteful look from the Winchester boy. Before he could leave, Ruby tugged lightly at his sleeve.

"Levi. Please don't hurt him, okay? He may be a jerk, but..."

Puppy eyes. Dammit!

"I'm not going to touch him, don't worry." He said giving her the same friendly smile that she had seen before, before he walked off, his new gear rattling lowly with every step.

"Ruby? What do you mean? And were did he get that... getup?" Her partner asked from the adjacent seat.

"I don't know Weiss. These people left these things for him at Ozpins office. When he put on that suit... I don't know, it kinda scared me. The way he looked at me." She quieted down for a moment.

"It just seemed as if the Levi we know is not really him..."

She was cut off as Levi returned from the locker room, each step sounding like thunder as the class had apruptly grown silent upon his reentry. His visor was down again and he carried a compact but vicious looking mamachine gun in his hands. He positioned himself across from Cardin who seemed the only one oblivious to the obvious aura of brutality emanating from the other boy.

"... it felt like this is the real him." Ruby finished before Cardin opened up with his typical mockery.

"Ready to lose again, you sorry show off?" He yelled and most people in the room just pinched their nose in frustration. Here he was, the only one who was able to stand up to Pyrrha Nikos in a fight. And he mocked him.

Levi however remained eerily silent until the siren sounded the begin of the match.

"Haaa!" Cardin shouted and hefted his mace, charging at Levi, who just remained in place and suddenly, he sprung into action.

Within the blink of an eye, the heavy gun snapped up, acquired it's target and he pulled the trigger.

An earshattering noise, like a chainsaw on steel, like a hundred thunderstorms, like nails on a chalkboard filled the arena as Levi held the trigger depressed.

One thousand two hundred rounds per minute punched into Cardin with relentless force and staggered him, effectively shutting down any movement, forwards or backwards, as he shuddered under the impacts until he, after what felt like minutes, finally dropped to a knee.

Levi immediately stopped firing and lowered his gun, opening some kind of hatch on the side of the barrel and flicking out the orange glowing barrel, before inserting a spare one and beginning the process of replacing the ammunition box.

He finished and slammed the weapon shut again with ease, just as Cardin made to lunge at him again.

He raised the mace up above his head to deliver a poweful strike, which never connected.

What connected however, was the single surgically placed bullet into Cardin's jugular that almost flipped him over and left him lying on the ground, gasping for air, his aura deep in the red.

Nobody had even noticed Levi drawing his sidearm.

"Match!" Professor Goodwitch's voice once again sounded through the room.

"Mr. Able wins. Even though I am just short of reprimanding you for employing such a dangerous strategy. Excessive application of force in a training environment can easily mean injury or even death. Something that will **not** happen in my class. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Levi answered, his voice distorted to a deep growl. Partially due to the speakers of his helmet.

"Ruby?" Blake asked towards her team leader.

"Who exactly is this guy?"


	6. Voices

Levi was sitting in the locker room behind the training stage. His helmet lay beside him and his head was in his hands as he stared at the gun in his lap. Something was changing and he was not sure how to feel about it.

It had started when he had put on the armor for the first time. As Ruby had stared at him in slight discomfort, he had found it highly amusing, empowering even. Now, when he had crushed that stupid Winchester boy without even touching him, the feeling had been overwhelming.

It was something deep inside him, a dark warmth, so deep that he was sure, it had been there at all times. The elation he had felt as Cardin's eyes had widened in shock as the last bullet came towards him, the adrenaline, it still cursed through his body.

Still, it troubled him.

He had read about 076, about the things he had done and back then he had been sure that he wasn't like that. Now he was unsure.

Somehing was poking at him from the back of his mind. He had to concentrate very hard to hear it, but something was there.

There were voices.

LXVI_

"Mr. Ozpin, how good to hear of you again. How is Levi holding up?" The happy voice of Dr. Carter sounded from his terminal, her picture, as always obscured to a black silhouette.

"Ms. Carter. It is good to hear you too. However, I'm afraid this is not a courtesy call and as a matter of fact, I am calling because of Mr. Able."

"Yes, of course. How is he doing?"

"I have asked my colleague, Ms. Professor Glynda Goodwitch, I am sure you know of her, to keep an eye on the young man."

He paused for dramatic effect.

"I am afraid his development is... quite troubling, since he got hold of his original equipment."

"Oh. I hope he hasn't caused any trouble for you. Of course we are always prepared to take him in our own care. However we had hoped, he wouldn't share the fate of his... relatives if he just got accustomed to a more... natural environment."

She actually sounded concerned. As little as Ozpin knew of her and the foundation, he genuinely believed her to be a trustworthy person. He wouldn't have agreed to this arrangement otherwise.

"There has not been an escalation yet, but we have observed... several symptoms on him that suggest an certain... instability. Nightmares primarily, but there has been a troubling development in one of our combat classes.

We are now thinking on how to counter that. If you have any suggestions, I would much appreciate it."

Again there was a brief pause before Dr. Carter picked up again.

"Headmaster, I am sorry to admit, but I fear that Sixty Six's tendency towards...general insanity, for the lack of a better term is unavoidable. We only hoped that it would stay in a certain... frame of acceptability."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow as he noted Dr. Carters fallback on the numerical designation.

"You have to understand, SCP-5551-66 is not a normal person like you, me, or anybody else. He is a weapon. It is part of his 'programming' to act with extreme prejudice and all the reports we have received, regarding the other 5551's, indicate a tendency towards a fatalistic, asocial and masochistic behaviour with no discernible trigger or something similar."

She sighed tiredly.

"I just hoped that he could have lived somewhat of a normal life, before we have to send him into the field."

Now it was Ozpin's turn to sigh.

"Dr. Carter, I am not just handing him over into your care. I am merely asking for help. What can we do, to counter this development of his?"

"Honestly? Ozpin you might not like it, but all of them... all I've read... it all indicates... Fuck, Ozpin. They need something to fight. Levi isn't different in that department. Hunting is part of his nature."

"You're saying he needs a mission."

"Not a mission, he needs blood."

LXVI_

 _Come on man, you know Levi isn't real. Able was. Well, hopefully he **was**. Levi however is a lie! You know that!_

"Shut up!"

 _Oh fuck off. You know it's true. You know that there's a reason for the things you know and you know it. Heh!_ _Anyway, you're an animal. Wanna know how I know that? Because Karin told me! You remember Karin?_ _You remember anything of your old team, or rather the masses of casualties who were trusting you?_

"Shut up!"

 _No no no no! You gotta confront that shit, mate! You wouldn't want the others find out about what you did before you do._ _You know? The killing? The interrogations? You were good at those._

"Who are you?"

 _Dude, you're dense, aren't ya?_ _**We** are number sixty six, motherfucker! The hunter, the __reaper, the army of one! We were the one who crawled from the rubble after Karin reduced what you left of the fucking 4th assault amphibian to minced meat. Those poor marines didn't even know what they walked into._

"Karin?"

 _Whow, you forgot? You had a huge crush on her! And you were the one who locked her in that fucking bunker, the poor woman._

 _No objections? Well to be fair, it was one if your more rational decisions. I mean, you might not be **evil** but you might very well be..._

"What? What are **we** , huh? Don't you think you're the only one who can play this shitty game!"

Silence enveloped Levi's mind as he strained his nerves to perceive more of the traitorous voice inside his head. Were did that come from? And were did the warm feeling of superiority go that his victory over the tall, blonde cunt gave him? Instead there was just silence and anger.

He knew that he hadn't felt that in a long time, anger and aggression. Sure, his fighting style relied on him being overly aggressive, but his mind had been clear every time. He had forced himself into a sterile, emotionally devoid state of mind, just to keep control of the dangers. He had known for quite some time that he thought different than those on Remnant.

Preservation of all life, even that of the enemy. Combat academies for young teens and huntsmen and huntresses, who essentially boiled down to special forces, as idols for said youths. Levi didn't even want to think about how Ruby would take it if she ever had to fight a human being to the death. She would probably just die while trying to save her opponent's worthless life. Was that wrong?

Or was he wrong for being undoubtedly able to kill without a second thought?

"Um... hey? Levi?"

He immediately spun around, his hands held high and the gun trained on the intruder who had dared to just sneak up behind him. Just then he did realise the scared expression on Ruby's face and the welling anger in Yang's.

He immediately lowered the pistol and sat back down.

"Sorry."

He quietly muttered, casting his gaze to the ground, so he wouldn't have to look at Ruby anymore. He just couldn't stand those eyes.

"Levi, are you okay? You seem weirdly out of line since you got your stuff back. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just remembered a bunch of things that... Some things that shook me a little. It's nothing, really. Just gotta find my groove again."

The concerned look on Ruby's face vanished and made way for one of her innocent smiles that conveyed nothing but unrestrained happiness. God it was so easy to make her laugh.

"Alrighty then! If there's anything we can do, just tell us. Also if you just want to talk, okay?"

He sighed with a tired smile.

"Yeah, I will. Thank you Ruby."

He said and waved back as the caped girl bounded off towards her annoyed looking partner in white.

Her sister also turned around apparently much more relaxed again, now that he wasn't able to shoot at her little sister, but Levi raised his voice before she had left the room.

"Hey, Yang! If I wanted a drink in this city, where would I go?"

She stopped and turned around, a mischievous smile on her face and her hands on her hips.

"Well, you'd probably just wait at the landing pads tomorrow afternoon and don't tell anyone."

"And if I wanted to go alone?" He apparently caught on quickly.

"Then you're sad and also clueless were to go."

LXVI_

How did he ever breathe the air of the cities? All the colours and different scents, they confused his senses and attacked his brain in a way that was disorientating and... beautiful at the same time. It had been days since they had left the red desert behind them. That's what they had taken to call the sea of skinned bodies they had waded through for what felt like weeks. Maybe it had been weeks, maybe even longer.

Karin stood upon a small hill of flowers and she had taken off her helmet, opened her ponytail to let her fiery hair flow free in the gentle breeze. She looked genuinely happy to Levi as he looked up to her from where he was standing and he was unable to suppress a small smile between two drags from his cigarette.

"You know, even if it probably doesn't kill you, it makes your breath stink." She said through a happy grin while a streak of light played around her pretty face.

"Well, something has to pull us back from our incredible high. Also it's not like I'm going to french kiss you, so who cares?" He answered in his usual sarcastic tone, something that made Karin roll her eyes and broaden her smile.

She knew he was right. By now she'd almost forgotten that she even carried a rifle at all, why she would need it. This was paradise right? It was full of light and almost everywhere she went, she saw a rainbow or some fantastic animal that ran about, scared off by her and her team. His team. They didn't belong here. She didn't and out of all of them, he didn't belong here the most. It was too pure.

"Karin, Mato, Six! We should go. We only have about four hours of daylight left." Lukas called from the lake, his pack on his back and the helmet of his MICA-suit dangling from his hip. How the stoic german even knew how long the day was going to be in this seemingly random place, nobody knew, but he was always right. He saw things that stayed hidden for others and Levi thought in ways nobody else did. That was why Lukas was pointman, because he was fast and his instincts intact and Levi was teamleader, because... yes, why?

Because he was detached and ruthless. Because he didn't trust the peace.

It had been the eighth day when Mato vanished. Levi, Karin and Lukas immediately went after him, following a trail of struggle and blood. When they found him, Karin almost broke down in tears. He was well and the beast that lay beside him in it's own blood, it was dead. Karin and Mato had been close, closer than Levi would have liked. Not only that he liked Karin in a very particular way too, but as a teamleader, he also was strictly against fraternisation among colleagues. In their line of work, something that could make you hesitate, could drastically diminish your chances of survival, so he tried to suppress his own feelings, with varying success.

The very moment they had found Mato, he had been suspicious. Not only did the man emerge out of a fight with a wild beast totally unscathed (not a single bruise), but he also acted weird. Way too casual, even for a seasoned veteran like him. Levi's eerie calmness in combat was one of the things he was infamous for, but Mato, as much as he was a professional, had never reached that level. A good thing, it meant that he still acted like a human being and maybe one of the reasons his relationship with Karin was as passionate as it was. But something had changed and Levi was hellbent on finding out what.

Bad enough that something might endanger his team...

This thing was on Karin.

She flailed and fought, but she was unarmed and half naked. Levi had practically ripped the tent open and had to stop for a fraction of a second upon the sight of it. Thinking it to be Mato, Karin had probably coaxed it into her tent and under her sleeping bag. But it wasn't Mato and it took Levi just moments to take it apart where it stood over his comrade and friend.

A knife and his rage was all he needed to annihilate the disgusting abomination and when he was done, the blind anger slowly dissipating, he knew that he would never, **never** let anything hurt her again. He would rather die.

Heh! Classic.

LXVI_

"I thought you didn't want to wait?"

Yang said as she lounged lazily in the green field at Beacons main entrance. She kicked her legs up and swung herself to her feet, nearly losing the pair of aviators that sat on her nose.

"Well, you were right about me not knowing where to go exactly. I have been to the city just once and that was with you guys."

"And not because you didn't want to go alone."

He chuckled lightly as he saw her teasing wink.

"Yesterday, I felt like I had to numb myself. Today, I think I might have some actual fun."

"Do you dance when you're drunk?"

Yang asked, some expectation in her voice.

"No. I talk."

"Uh. Laame. I'll be dancing my ass off."

"You're welcome. I'll find an intellectual opponent in time to avoid that."

"Uuuh. Thinking you'll bring someone home, do you?"

"There aren't a lot who would go with me. Be assured of that."

"Why not? You're handsome, if you'd do something about the shadows under your eyes... and comb your hair... and get some colour on your face-"

"Okay, I get it, I look like shit."

"Yeah. More precisely, you look like you're sick and lost control of yourself."

"That's why I want to drink. It helps take the mind of things."

She put her hands on her hip and regarded him with a critical look.

"What things?"

"When were closer, Yang. Now where can I get wasted?"

"Oh, I'll get you wasted. You'll have to crawl back to your room."

"That a challenge?"

"A promise!"

They moved to one of the already waiting Bullheads and climbed inside.

"Oh! I didn't know you'd come too." Levi said as he glanced down the bullhead's passenger compartment at Nora and her partner Ren.

"Oh, Iiii'm going! Hell yeah." Nora seemed unreasonably pumped about getting drunk. Well just teens probably.

"I came to make sure she doesn't trash the place." Her partner said, a slightly tired look on his face.

"Did you think I'd go with someone I barely know without bringing any backup? How do I know you'll not be spicing up my sunrise?"

Levi leaned back and crossed his arms, feigning an insulted look. "Don't trust me, huh? I thought we had something there."

"Wait? A something?" Nora whipped around from her seat, a smirk on her face and in her eyes.

"A joke, Nora. They're not together." Ren said, while holding his partner down on her shoulder, to which Yang's expression grew a shade more red.

"Too old for me anyways. Dad said I shouldn't mingle with older men."

"I am three years older than you. Also you **are** mingling with me right now."

"I **am** showing you to a great club, so stop being a little whiney and shut up." Yang tried to suppress the blush on her face, something that Levi was sure, wasn't anatomically possible.

But she said club, not bar. It had been a long time since he had been in one and he certainly didn't like it. Got into a fight and had an agoraphobic episode. However, now he wasn't alone and that could possibly make the difference.

"Hey, Yang."

"Yeah?"

"I'm actually not too fond of crowded places, so I might stand back a little if that's alright."

"Of course. Ren will probably too." He nodded.

"So you two can just hang back and enjoy being lame, while we two-" She pointed between herself and Nora.

"-will be killing it on the dance floor. However, challenge still stands, I'll have my drink-off."

"Drink-off?"

 _Did you bring a gun?_

"Yeah. A drink off. You'll be swaying and singing and dancing, I promise."

 _Are you listening? Did you bring a weapon? Anything?_

Why?

 _Because... you know, there'll be a lot of people. And when there are a lot of people, a lot of things can go wrong. You know, you can't trust anyone._

I'm not that paranoid.

 _Oh, you are. We are **one** , did you forget already? And you want to be ready, in case shit hits the fan, right?_ _You want to protect them._

They'll be able to watch out for themselves.

 _Did you. Bring. A. Gun?_

Of course I brought a gun. Now shut the fuck up!

"Levi? Levi are you alright?"

Yang was worriedly looking into his blank eyes from where she was crouching in front of him. Her hands were on his shoulders and she was shaking him lightly.

"I'm alright... I'm alright, thank you. I was just thinking about... you know what? Forget it, when are we there?"

"Wha-? Well okay!? It shouldn't take us more than ten minutes now. Afyer we've landed, we have another five minute walk. It's not far."

"So chances are, I could have found It on my own."

"Maybe, probably."

She smiled at him with a wink and Levi felt amused in a certain kind. What if she actually didn't want him to go alone? It suggested honest worry for his wellbeing. Not the economical worry he knew and remembered, where his optimal health, mental amd physical was required for the mission, but one born from genuine empathy. She probably wouldn't get any out of it if he was relaxed or happy, just the feeling of him being that way.

They disembarked the vehicle and made their way to a rather dark looking building, not far from the landing ports. Dampened music could be heard from within and outside, in front of the double doors that made the main entrance, a small line of people had build up. Three bouncers were in front, pattipatting down people and either sending them away or letting them through. Just now he realised that none other, not Yang, not Nora or Ren had brought their weapons. Shit

 _But you already thought of that, you dummy! That's why Levi just isn't right for us. Here, let me do that._

It was his turn and he dutifully extended his arms. Hands ran over his torso, legs and down to his ankles. The bouncer had to have recognised the gun by now, but he seemed preoccupied with something else.

"Man, what's with these?" He pointed at the black, light combat boots that Levi favoured to wear with his suit. Nobody else had commented yet, so he had never thought that they might not really fit together.

 _That's his problem? What a dickwad! Well either way, strap in "Levi"! Lemme show you how the Sixty Six deals with this._

"Is there a problem with my footwear, sir?"

Nora, who had been in front of him, turned around and saw him standing before the guard.

"Yeah, man! What do you think this establishment is? That you can just walk around, spread dirt everywhere?"

She realised that the pondering look, the one that looked a little nervous or sad at most times, had vanished, something that had only happened before when he fought. Instead, he now stood tall, his eyes looking down on the bouncer who berated him, an air of superiority emanating around him.

"I think that whoever is in charge of this fine establishment would probably be ashamed of his security detail talking trash to potential customers. I think that Junior, who **is** in charge here, would also not like the fact that business partners are spoken to like low level gangers, so step aside, **man** or not, I don't care."

The bouncer seemed a little unsure of what to do for a moment when another one came towards them. "Is there a problem, Nicky?" Levi looked at Nicky with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Nicky, is there a problem?"

"No, sir, I'm sorry. Please go on." The bouncer stepped aside and Levi marched in, right next to Nora, who had observed the whole incident.

 _Sixty Six signing off! You're welcome 'Levi'._

"What's his problem?" Nora asked, looking back at the flustered door guard, then at Levi, whose shoulders and spine had by now relaxed to his normal posture. The oppressive aura now not much more than the knowledge of what she had seen before. Nora seemed a little airheaded for most of her peers, but she was actually very often concerned with the people around her. She just didn't care what others thought of herself. With Levi she had problems finding an angle to look at him. He was friendly, shy and a little awkward when she had met him first, but brutal and merciless when in combat. Originally she had thought that these were his two only modes of conduct, but now she knew that he was also a bold actor and a good one at that. Maybe he was a spy! Or an undercover cop! How cool that would be!

"I don't know. Was complaining about my shoes."

"Your..." She had to look twice. "Oh! Because they're boots. I wouldn't even have noticed."

He fixed his collar and looked around the room. It was a large hall basically, with a few columns jutting out from the ground to the ceiling, were speakers and some fogmachines were fastened. The ground was covered with polymer tiles that glowed in dynamically changing hues of colour and the ceiling was pitch black, as if they stood under an endless, starless sky. To their left, a part of the hall was segmented into several walled off cubicles that could be closed with curtains. Levi saw more than one couple vanish in these. The bar was also on that side. To their left, on an imposing podium, the DJ stood, a huge teddy bear helmet on his shoulders, while he worked his machines. The center of the room comprised the main cance floor and apparently today was a good day for the owners of this place. The floor was cramped with bodies. Twisting, turning and rubbing on each other. Some were lost in their own tantalising moves while some others, mostly men, moved from one partner to the other, trying to elicit some reaction from them. Levi would rather burn alive before he would move into that pit. He wasn't necessarily prudent and he could understand the appeal of being so close to everyone around, but he would never be able to let loose like these people did. In a way, he was even envious.

Levi saw Nora walking down the stairs towards the crowd. She gave him a small wave and then pointed at the bar with her thumb, where Ren was already sitting. Apparently, probably voluntarily on overwatch duty for the girl's things. He checked on last time that the gun was securely tucked away in the concealed holster and took off his jacket, while moving over to the long haired boy.

Levi sat down, throwing his jacket on the pile of yellow, green and pink and watched as one of the waitresses came over to them. Her outfit was so skimpy that Levi had trouble keeping eye contact. Something she apparently realised as she bowed down towards him as she arrived at their table. Her top was pretty lose and had a rather generous neckline, both making it impossible for him not to find out that she wasn't wearing a bra. Now he tried what Yang had failed at earlier and had to come to terms with the fact that your circulatory system does whatever the hell it feels like.

"Aww, the bad boy is blushing!" The waitress chimed playfully while she straightened herself, pulling her shoulders back a little more than necessary so that her shirt now clung tightly to her chest. "What can I get you boys?"

"A cider and a strawberry sunrise." Ren said, gesturing at the empty space next to him.

"Another sunrise and..." Levi was still flipping through the small menu, but he had heard Yang say strawberr sunrise before, whatever that was. "...I'll take scotch. A double, no ice." She nodded and vanished back around the corner.

"Wow, I could actually understand her. I realised that just now."

"You're welcome." Ren said, making Levi raise an eyebrow in question. "This is the quietest spot in the whole thing. I have this table on lockdown whenever were here."

"Nice." Levi fingergunned at Ren with his left, while he grabbed for an ashtray from one of the adjacent tables with his right. He lighted a cigarette and blew into the air, the smoke vanishing upwards, probably towards the ventilation system.

"Now, Yang goes here all the time, Nora most of these times too and where she goes I go. Less complications that way. But why are you here?" Ren leaned forward his eyes fixated on the other young man.

There was silence as Levi smoked his cigarette and Ren seemed to give him time.

"I don't know." He finally said. "I guess I just don't want to be left behind."

"Left behind?"

"There is no family for me here, or a home. The people who know me best are a-" He paused and looked cautiously around for anyone eavesdropping. "-are basically a secret police of occultism and..." He trailed off. Ren now looked at him with a much softer expression.

"You have nothing of your own." he said sympathetically.

"And what I have is straight out of a war story."

Ren seemed to ponder himself now. Arguing with himself until he finally talked again.

"You know... me and Nora, we go way back. I met her when we were little, you know. Back then, my village was completely whiped out by the... the Grimm. I lost everything and Nora, I think she never really had something. But since then we had each other, we support each other. Whatever the one does or has to go through, the other is always there and vice versa."

"That sounds nice."

"It's what keeps me whole. I think Nora feels something similar."

The waitress came over again, this time with a plate and their drinks. She placed both sunrises at the empty seats, the cider in front of Ren and the scotch in front of Levi, but not before stealing his cigarette out of his mouth and taking a long drag, while smiling playfully at him.

"She seems to have taken a liking in you." Ren said, a small smile on his face as she walked off again, looking back once to meet Levi's eyes.


	7. Wind

The air around Levi was thick. Not figuratively, but actually thick like water, it was actively restricting his movement. His boots crept over the desolate floor and seemed to stomp down heavily with each step as he swivelled his head around, scanning his surroundings. The landscape was vast, flat, yet as if it bent in illogical angles. A desert without end, stretching to the horizon in every thinkable direction. The ground seemed solid, smooth, like white marvel, unnatural by all means. It made him sick in his stomach.

In wholly irregular distances to each other and everything, gigantic pillars stabbed up into the endless sky. Somehow, the way they stood up from the ground made them look terrifying and obscene. Most people would have fallen to the ground in horror and wept for their live's worth, not Levi. He felt only hate.

Hate for the creatures that had made him come here. Hate for all the different kinds of enslaved races he fought everyday since he had landed. Hate for this world that made no sense. How he couldn't even take a piss without having to fear for his life or worse and how everything he had learned, seemed to be utterly worthless here, even though the results were exactly the same. He hefted his light machine gun against his torso and gripped it tightly, the knuckles under his gloves white from the strain. Fuck them! Fuck this place! Fuck everything!

"Six, I want to go home!" Karin whined behind him. She, a veteran of unspeakable horrors and the most trusted person Levi had ever met, sat on the ground, her rifle clutched to her chest and rocking back and forth. Streams of tears ran down her cheeks and he could hear the accusing tone in the sobbing voice. He wanted to slap her, yell that he didn't want to be here either, but he wouldn't. Of course not, who does that? Instead he walked over briskly and pulled her up by her vest. Her eyes shot up to meet his and it was impossible to miss the look of fear in them. Unspeakable fear of this place, these things and of him. He gave her a sharp look, one that he knew she didn't deserve, but he couldn't help it and turned his back on her. He too was under strain, but he tried to keep it together.

A shot rang out and Levi felt the pressure of a bullet punching into his armor. He stumbled forward, by the pure force of the projectile, his armor denting just slightly under the rugged cloth. Shocked he turned around, his eyes wide as he spotted the shooter.

Karin just stood there, her handgun in a practiced hold pointing at him. Her face was a grimace of anger and hate, his was a hole in the mask he usually wore. Then suddenly, her scowl fell off, making place for a look of terror and regret. The tears welled up again and she all but threw the rifle away in disgust, stumbling over to him and wrapping her arms around his chest.

She cried that she was sorry. How something like that could have ever happened, that she had almost hurt him and did it with the full intention to do so. He let her stay like that, his own gun discarded as well, caressing her exposed neck as gently as he could with his armored gloves. He told her how everything was okay, how he forgave her already and that he would never leave her alone. He knew that the anger at her, that was so terribly difficult to fight, was not real. It was this place. It wanted them to kill each other.

LXVI_

"How on earth do you do that?" Yang slurred, as she emptied her eighth drink, her eyelids were heavy and she felt sick. Levi sat across from her, relaxed in his seat while he swirled the rest of the twelfth one in it's glass. The waitress, Sherrie, though he doubted that to be her real name, sat next to her, two glasses of water ready should the blonde need them.

"Nobody can drink like... that much and not even feel a little tipsy. You are a demon man! Levi the demon!" She attempted a playful wink at him that looked more like she had just caught a wasp with her eye and eventually gave up on it.

"I'm nooot feeling well." She then exclaimed and opted to flop on Sherrie's lap below table-surface.

"I think she had enough." Ren said while glancing over the girl on the waitresses lap. Nora sat next to him, a gleeful grin on her face. Both had had their fun on the dance floor and obviously, Yang had come back after to claim her victory. Drinking Levi under the table had seemed an easy venture as his pale complexion, his shy behaviour and his slender build didn't exactly suggest a great alcohol tolerance. She didn't know though that Levi wouldn't get drunk, no matter how much of the stuff served by Sherrie he drank. He had emptied the first three in seconds each and had just slowed down because he knew that Yang wouldn't be able to keep up. He didn't want her to have to wake up in a hospital after her stomach had been pumped empty.

"I think we're done here for tonight." He exclaimed and emptied the rest of his glass, shuddering slightly as the taste lingered on his tongue. "Sherrie, it's been nice to meet you."

"Oh, it's been very nice to meet you too, Levi. I hope we can see each other again." He paid for his and Yang's drinks and left a generous tip for which he, unexpectedly received a quick kiss on his cheek. No use to try and prevent the blush now.

Following after Ren and Nora, the latter with an almost unconscious blonde hanging from her shoulder, he neared the exit. But since he had left his seat, he had a weird feeling, as if something wasn't right. It had taken him a moment to notice the two raven haired girls who observed him with open suspicion. Both were petite in their build, wearing dresses appropriate for a night in a club and weren't visibly armed. He however, remembered the gamechanger that aura could be on Remnant and how Pyrrha would have easily bisected him, if it wasn't for his own, small reserve of the weird power. They stood up and deliberately started to walk over to him. Levi noticed a distinct clacking sound synchronous with the steps of one of them, even over the thumping music in the background.

 _Danger, man!_ _Knives in the ladies shoes and hidden claws. Also something large behind us._

Levi turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder to see two men in suits standing behind him. They were dressed similarly to the bouncers, red shirt, black tie, a ridiculous fedora and for some reason sunglasses. If they were trying to look intimidating, they failed miserably, but a lot of organisations used some kind of uniform to raise their troops morale as well as promote a feeling of comradeship.

"Mr. Able, Junior would like a word with you." He recognised from the way she said 'Junior' that it indeed had to be the one who ran this joint. A club managed by a mobster, how much more clichéd could they be in this world. However, he just nodded and promptly felt some tugging at his lower back as one of the grunts removed his gun, complete with holster from his belt. The noise in his head went wild, but Levi tried as hard as he could to keep it together, even though he too felt cold anger bubble up from deep within himself.

He followed the girl, her counterpart walking to his right while the suits in turn followed him. As he saw Ren and Nora at the entrance, he gave them a quick all-is-fine-sign by forming a circle with his thumb and index finger to which the two, technically three, if you counted the near unconscious Yang, gave him a tentative nod and moved towards the exit. Levi however saw them wait there and tried to think of a way to make this quick. A short distance away, one of the girls held open the flaps to one of the private booths and he moved in, followed closely by her and her colleague. No doubt he was the target of more than one jealous look from some of the male guests outside.

The inside was furnished with cozy couches that surrounded a small table on which stood a waterpipe, two glasses with an unknown liquid and an ashtray. A man sat on one side, a cigar in his hand. He may have been in his mid thirties and had a beard that was well kept. He wore a white shirt with a black vest over it and a red tie, the same colour scheme as the suits outside, but some variation. Probably their boss.

"Mr. Able." He stated the fact and gestured towards the seat across from him. "Have you been introduced?"

"I am afraid not." Levi said, even though he already knew who it was. He sat down on the other side.

"Oh! Well that is just bad form then. You may call me Junior for what it's worth and the two beauties here are Melanie and Miltiades or Miltia. Say hello to Mr. Able, ladies." Junior said with a gesture, to which both of them stiffened visibly. They each gave Levi an apprehensive kiss on the cheek and sat down next to him, one on each side. He didn't dare to move.

"They're sisters." Junior said, a lecherous grin adorning his face. Levi's opinion of the man was currently falling and falling fast.He continued. "Won't you ask what this is all about?"

"I figured you would tell me."

"Ha! Yeah well, can't have you beat up without you knowing why, right? Well, it's about two things actually." He tapped on his cigar, letting a piece of ash falling in the tray and motioned with his glass for Levi to take the other one.

"One of my subordinates has informed me of a business partner he had almost turned away. He was pretty sorry about it and about the fact that he missed the information about such a guest visiting today. Thing is, I didn't expect anyone today. So you..." He pointed at the young man with narrowed eyes. "... snuck into my establishment, ignoring the dresscode and carrying a gun!"

He held up the pistol, Levi had snuck in. "I got to think about the security of my guests here, you know? Secondly..." He turned and pointed both his index fingers at the entrance "... do you know who you brought in here? This blonde tart? Ling or what her name is!? She has wrecked my club more than once already and I hear her sister is responsible for a dozen of my men being incarcerated. Do you understand that I can't just leave this be!?"

"I understand." Levi answered. The whole thing was going to get on his nerves soon enough.

"Excellent. Now then, Mr. Able, this is how it's going to go. You will follow my little angels here, outside to the parked van. We don't want to make a mess here and disturb the innocent crowd, right? Miss Ling will have to have a lot of apologising to do to you. You don't have to thank me." Again with the lecherous grin. Levi wrestled with the thought of just punching through these irritatingly white teeth and tape this guy's tongue to the back of his throat. What a pathetic excuse for a confrontation either. Every single Bond villain was tossing and turning in his fictional grave. He had lived through the end of a world for God's sake.

 _Keep it cool, Levi._

Sure. let's take the advice from the militant psychopath and keep it together. However, he would not go with them. Levi would try to keep calm and resolve the situation here.

"What are you waiting for? Get the fuck up!" Junior's voice rang out to him. Far, far from the back of his skull. He had had such a good time. He would even say, for these few hours, he had been close to happy.

"Let's not do this, mister... Junior? Is there no way to get this problem out of the world without violence?" They had to notice the face he made while saying this. Even he himself was able to identify the teeth gritting anger in his voice.

 _Breathe. Our fuse is shorter than we thought, huh?_

Junior just stared at the young man in front of him. For a second, just a little moment, it seemed as if the shadows around him had gotten darker. Pitch black even. But it was probably his mind playing tricks on him. The title "Junior" was not really perfectly descriptive of his age anymore, so it was probably possible that he imagined a few things now and then. Much more impirtant now: The kid had the audacity to speak up against him. Couldn't he see that he was in the clear disadvantage? It wasn't too difficult to understand, right? He alone, against him, his two lieutenants and a truckload of people. The math was obvious. Don't screw with us!

"Listen... Kid! We-"

"Don't "Kid" me, Junior!" Levi hissed. Right now, in contrast to how he was feeling just a few minutes ago, he was tired and pissed. Pissed at this small time ganger, who thought to have a leg up on him and tired of... well right now of everything. He stood up, Miltia and Melanie did the same.

"Boss!" A guard from outside the booth peered in, unmoved by the thick tension that hung in the air.

"What?"

"The whitesuit's here. Wants to see the boy."

"Wu... What?" With a small spark of satisfaction, Levi observed Junior's minor tantrum, as he paced around the confined space of the booth, massaging his temples. Then, obviously frustrated, he stopped.

"Alright, alright! Let him in already!"

The flaps to the booth parted and Levi saw another comic book grade character enter. This one wore a white suit and a dark bowler hat that sat dangerously non-symmetrical on a short mane of ginger hair. A small tattoo sat below one eye. Again with the clichés. This one was lifted straight out of Clockwork Orange. He pointed his cane at Junior in what Levi thought, was a rather rude gesture. "Stay! I'll be taking this one. Mr. Able please follow me." He commanded towards Junior, before sending a small nod towards Levi.

A bit of a deus ex machina, for sure, but Levi wasn't going to complain. He was pretty sure that whitesuit here, was more dangerous than Junior, as he seemed higher in the hierarchy, but he hadn't expressed any open hostility yet. A step in the right direction, for sure.

LXVI_

Did Nora think that this Levi character was a bit weird? Sure, but that was far from a bad thing in her opinion as just about everyone, except for Ren thought her to be weird too. Was he a bit gloomy sometimes? Definitely, but she wasn't one to judge. After all she didn't knew what he'd been through before and he had his moments where he was wide awake and even funny. In the end it just added to the mystery about the strange foreign boy, who seemed so thoughtful all the time and hit at least as hard as Pyrrha Nikos. Nora really liked him. Not as much as she liked Ren of course, but... not like that of course. Ren was her friend, her bestest friend!

It was much more confusing then that Nora saw the pale faced, dark clothed boy leave the booth he had entered with the owner of the club, with the wanted criminal and probable terrorist Roman Torchwick. She nudged Ren, who was already looking and they watched them leave through one of the side exits, Torchwick even holding the door open for Levi.

LXVI_

"Junior I had been informed of. Pretty much know who he is. Not you though."

The whitesuit gave him an amused smile. Levi hadn't missed the concerned look, Sherrie had sent towards him as he had left the club with the man. He lifted his hat and performed a small bow.

"Roman Torchwick, at your service."

"Out of the frying pan into the fire." He had recognised the name from the radio.

He chuckled. "Not quite. Not for you. Miss Carter will be pleased to hear that you're able to avoid trouble if necessary."

Miss Carter? What kind of connections had this woman? "You know her?"

"Pfff. No one knows her. I've been working for the foundation for fifteen years now and I think I'll never know what's in that little head of hers." Torchwick pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to him, his cane hanging from his forearm as he did so.

"Your gun. Also a message from the mistress."

Levi fastened the weapon back on his belt and unfolded the tiny piece of paper. It was a handwritten notice, the letters shimmering strangely in the low light of the streetlamps.

 _Task. Details Headmaster._

Levi looked up at Torchwick, his mouth opening for a question.

"It's a special method of psychovisual encryption. I can't read it. I'm not supposed to know what's in there."

He closed his mouth again. Nora and Ren were watching them, not thirty meters away.

"I should go. You'll have a lot of explaining to do as it is. Burn the paper when you're done. No encryption is safe for long." With that, Torchwick turned and walked back inside. A short girl with hf brunette, half pink hair waited for him. Then the door closed behind them. Levi lit the piece of paper, tried to mask it with lighting a cigarette and watched it burn to ashes.

 _You don't trust him, do you?_

Of course not.

 _He was dangerous._

So are we.

"Levi? What was that?" The three had approached him from where they stood. Nora and Ren both keeping a small distance between them and him.

"I don't know. Junior wanted to beat me up. Torchwick didn't want that."

"What'd he say?" Nora asked? It was kind of unnerving to listen to her speak in a serious tone.

"He introduced himself. Really, I have no idea what's going on." They relaxed. Apparently no questions about the paper would follow.

"He's a criminal, Levi. If he wants something from you, you have to inform Ozpin." Ren said in his usual calm tone. He was still eyeing the door through which the whitesuit had vanished.

"We should have done something!"

"He's dangerous, Nora. Ruby's team couldn't apprehend him when they were at full strength. How do you think we would have fared against him. Three of us, unarmed, with Yang basically unconscious."

"I knoow." She pouted. Adorably as Levi thought.

"Let me carry her. It's my fault she's like that." He said and Nora maneuvered Yang into his arms. She was sleeping and would just hang from his shoulder. He scooped her up with both arms and carried her bridal style. Less taxing on his back that way.

"Let's get her back to Beacon."

LXVI_

Ruby was sullen. She'd just fallen asleep as she heard a knock on her door. Weiss was still up and poured over her notes from class, but made no attempt at answering the door.

Clumsily and in her pajamas, she waddled over to the entrance to their room, rubbing an eye as she opened it.

"HEEEY!" Of course Nora would still be wide awake at two in the morning. At least Ruby would be able to sleep in tomorrow. The pink haired girl shouldered her way in, much to the heiress's dismay, who could now forget about effectively studying anything but the post-drinking behaviour of the Valkyrie and the, sometimes insufferable blonde sister of Ruby's. Ren and Levi looked as sober as they'd left, which was to be expected from Ren at least. They glanced over as the palefaced boy gently lowered Yang down on her bed and put the sheet over her body. She began snorung immediately.

"She'll want a glass of water when she wakes up. Maybe a light painkiller too. Aspirin or something."

"What's Aspirin."

"A light painkiller. Which she'll want when she wakes up. Most probably in combination with a glass of water." Weiss rolled her eyes at his sly smile and pointed him at a low shelf where they kept a few cups. A bright yellow one seemed to fit the most and Levi went into their bathroom to fill it with water. Weiss all the while, produced a small pack of tablets from her own nightstand and put in on the nightstand next to Yang's bed.

"Isn't Blake in there?" Ruby asked as Levi returned with a cup of water. He turned his right cheek towards her, where four parallel scratches started just above his hear and faded in the stubble of his beard.

"She is."

"This is a girl's dorm!" Came from inside the bathroom, making Levi look at the ground guiltily, while Weiss glared daggers in his direction and Ruby and Nora couldn't suppress a small chuckle.

"She's going to feel this in the morning."

LXVI_

 _AN: Yeah, I haven't managed to write a lot in the last two months. Reason for this being life, punching me in the gut a few good times. My girlfriend, who supported a lot of my writing has left and I lost my job. Resulting from this, I kind of got swamped in a phase of lengthy depression and a general brokeness, financially. However now that I have work again and I can see a small silver lining over this ocean of dark and stormy thoughts, I feel like I could actually resume something of a creative process. So I'll add new chapters. This one is a bit eventless again, but I'm working towards a thing here. Just you wait._

 _Just you wait._


	8. A Hunt

Lukas Heller held his breath without noticing. He was a professional in every sense. Cold and detached when necessary, but not dull, not calloused. Remaining sharp and capable of feeling emotions, knowing right from wrong, where vital skills for a man such as himself.

That was why the events that unfolded before him chilled him to his very core.

No one knew where the plague had come from; nor what had caused specifically. However all who tried to find out were sure about a few things. First: It was extraterrestrial, since the pathogen's structure was so strange, so alien for the lack of a better word, that there was no way that it had originated on earth. Second: It was engineered. The stability of the plague suggested such. Then there was the unnatural lethality and invisibility of it that made for clues that whatever it was that haunted humanity was artificial in design.

And there the theories started. People had connected the appearance of the large celestial objects, that orbited the planet, very quickly. Most were sure that the pathogen was some kind of biological bombardment preceeding an invasion and slowly but surely, tales were propagated. Of ancient and terrible powers, which had been the masters of this world once and were now returning to reign over it again. Apparently it had been prophesied to a great number of people in their dreams or in visions. And the influence of these strange incidents grew daily.

Lukas wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. It was cold, so cold that he could see his breath forming in front of his face even, but he was nervous and he tended to sweat when he was nervous.

"Lukas?" Karin asked, the concern evident in her voice. Ever since they had come back from the mist she clung to Six like a child to it's mother. Lukas suspected that the incident with Mato was partly a reason for that.

"Gonna be okay." He answered and sat down on a piece of concrete, cradling his M4.

"It is strangely beautiful, isn't it?" He said and pounted at the city.

Before them, Avignon was in flames. Fire tongued up the metal skeletons of tall office buildings and the remains of what was left of the traditional architecture. Parks were nothing more now, than smoldering fields of ash, with fires were the black mass had somehow rekindled. Streets warped under the heat, melted together with vehicles and streetlights while, high above, up into the thick ceiling of the clouds, massive columns of smoke rose, painting black streaks before the hellish inferno. A rustle from behind them announced the arrival of Six and the commanders of the alliance. Director Avid of the Foundation, General David Lockhart of the United Nations Global Occult Coalition, General Alexander Shen of the United States Combined Armed Forces and last, former Agent Jacques Timon, the leader of the new Chaos Insurgency which was receiving massive backing from the notorious group Marshall, Carter and Dark.

SCP, GOC, USCAF and CI, perhaps the biggest players left on the planet, all huddled together around a burning barrel for warmth, inmidst the largest military camp ever erected. It was like the beginning of the worst joke in human history.

"Our fleet in orbit has been destroyed or is lost. Some reports suggest that the crews of some vessels have gone insane. They have either tried to ram the objects and were destroyed, or have opened fire on friendly vessels. Either way, the few remaining ships have withdrawn. There won't be an attempt to bring your man up there." Shen said and inclined his head towards Avid. Lockhart nodded silently beside him.

"No space for you then." Avid said, his middle eastern accent bleeding through and sent a wry smile towards Six.

"Had enough of space since Object 341 anyways." Six grumbled and lit a cigarette.

"Goddamnit! Almost four million sailors are dead, you fuck!" Shen snapped.

"Two point eight million civilians are burning right behind us. I think the value of a human life has decreased since we have started this cooperation, sir."

Six growled back, putting an emphasis on tge word "sir" as he talked. Lukas was unable to see Six's face, but he knew how unsettling a glare from him or his kind could be. The combination of the general malevolence that seemed to radiate from him and all his siblings from the 5551s, paired with a look in their eyes, a hungry look. A look that a starved tiger would give a lame antilope as it would prepare to lunge for the prey.

Out of sixty seven attempts, only three were successful. One was Sixty Six, the others were Nineteen and Thirty Three. Nineteen had been killed as she tried to protect foundation staff from Sixty Seven. Thirty Three had been lost to space as the Foundation and the GOC had attacked Object 341. He was presumed dead, but he had been responsible for the destruction of most of the failed 5551 instances. Thirty Three is credited with forty one killed instances of SCP-5551, himself not included. Nineteen had managed to destroy all eighteen that came before her and three which came after her.

Sixty Six had eliminated Sixty Seven shortly after he had been activated during Sixty Seven's containment breach. He was to late to save Nineteen. She died in front of him. That had been his only confirmed kill of an instance of SCP-5551, but Sixty Six had had to face something far worse a few years later. SCP-076, or "Able".

When questioned after, SCP-076 had apparently said: "I don't think I've ever had this much fun with a human."

LXVI_

Don't move. Slow breaths. Keep in the shadow, with the sun behind you. Aim for the heart. No corrections necessary from this distance. Safety is off and round is in the chamber. Put the finger on the trigger and squeeze, carefully.

The dampened sound of the shot rang out the treeline over the clearing and Ruby whipped around, her Crescent Rose in it's rifleform at the ready. She took a quick peek at the cardboard target next to her and her shoulders slumped in dissapointment. Levi had won, even though she had had such a good feeling about this. When he suggested this contest after (surprisingly) losing to her in sparring, she had imagined to be the first at Beacon who could say to have wholly beaten Levi Able. But Levi was a dangerous adversary.

Her superior mobility, her ability to use her semblance and aura competently and her familiarity with Crescent Rose had won her a narrow victory over him in one on one combat. Though, now that she thought about it, if they had fought on any other terms than tournament rules, he would have probably wiped the floor with her. Levi had dared her to a rematch and they had erected a little course in one of the less remote parts of the Beacon Forest. Each of them had to hit all three of the Grimm-shaped cardboard cutouts while the other one had to survey the area, identify the opponent and hit him/her with a coloured training round. The defender only had to land one hit, while the attacker had to land three and stay undetected.

As winner from the sparring, Ruby had chosen to have the first go as the attacker and the entirety of team JNPR as well as Weiss, Blake and Yang had witnessed her stumbling out of the treeline, dazed and with a large ,blue spot of colour on her blouse. She was sullen, for not only had she been bested in sharpshooting, something that she took pride in, but she hadn't even seen where the shot had come from.

Her go as defender had produced similarly humbling results. She had fired a few rounds at points in the treeline where she had been sure she had seen Levi, but none had hit. She then had taken to guard the targets more directly and had waited. A long time.

It had startled her when the first target fell. She had instinctively listened for the discrepancy between the impact and the sound of the shot being fired and had difficulties figuring out if the dampened crack had indeed been a gunshot or a large branch breaking off. It must have been and judging from the time delay, Levi had to be a significant distance away. From the way the target had been hit and thrown down, she was able to discern the rough direction, but all this information was useless if she couldnt see Levi.

The second target fell a few minutes later. The shot had come from a completely different direction. Levi must have circled her as much as the treeline allowed and still, she had no idea where he was exactly. The third target had followed after a significantly shorter time, but yet from another direction again, suggesting that the young man had moved at a very high speed through the trees, all without giving away his movement to Ruby's schooled eye.

Pouting she sat down on a nearby rock. Yang and Weiss moving next to her.

"It is obvious that he is used to deception and underhanded tactics. Which, I have to admit, is very valuable in the field, but not very becoming for the image of a huntsman." The heiress said, putting a softer tone into her voice. Ruby smiled. Even though Weiss could be cold at times, it was evident that she cared for her and wanted to cheer her up.

"Yeah! What she said! Also you beat him before, didn't you?" Ruby's sister said cheerfully and started to ruffle Ruby's hair, which she tried to fight, but to no avail.

"I get it, I get it. Still I feel he's so far ahead of us. I'm just happy he's on our side."

"There he is." Blake said from where she stood, a few steps aside, next to Nora and Ren. All turned their head to wher she pointed and saw the small appearance of Levi emerge from the treeline, carrying the black rifle that Ruby had heard him say was called a K98. He was wearing a short, hooded cape, something that Ruby had thought was pretty cool, as she herself liked the red one she, which wore as much as possible, only that his was a dull olive in colour and he had weaved all kinds of vegetation into the small straps which were dotted all over the thin cloth. Now she realised why she had been unable to find him. Suddenly the choice of red as the primary colour for most of her outfits seemed very impractical for her choice of weapon.

"Hey there." He said. As he came closer, all were able to see the thick beads of sweat that had formed on his face, though he didn't even sound winded. He lifted a large branch that he had broken off and showed it to them. It was adorned with a thick splash of red colour.

"Almost had me there. You have one hell of an eye." He smiled a genuine happy smile. It was such an alien expression to see on him and because of that infectious to all present. Even Weiss, who had kept a distance away from him at all times turned her face away to hide the miniscule smile that tugged on her lips. Ruby's mood was lifted considerably by his praise, but her attention was on the rifle again. More precisely, how he had outfitted it. The large scope and the bipod suggested that this configuration was intended to be used from a stationary position, something that huntsmen and huntresses usually tried to avoid, as Grimm were highly mobile amd tended to swarm their prey at high speeds. The suppressor explained why she had been unable to identify the gunshots properly by sound. Of course, even a suppressed gunshot was loud. However it was altered to a point where the clear and distinctive cracking noise was reduced and muffled.

"Worked up a sweat there, big boy?" Yang playfully flicked his ear with a finger, which caused a few droplets of sweat to fall and Levi to flinch slightly, blushing, looking uncomfortable

"Don't tease him. Levi isn't used to being touched." Nora chimed in. It was obvious that she wasn't coming to Levi to help, but to join in in furthering his nervousness.

"Really? What about the waitress back in Vale? She certainly had her hands all over these." She punched lightly on his arm and Levi had to admit, she was right. Sherri had at one point even begun to lightly massage his biceps as he and Yang had had their (According to her, extremely stupid Idead of his.) drinking competition.

"I had a few drinks."

"Yeah, you keep saying that. I still think that most of your alcohol went right down the potted palmtree behind you. I don't care if you have witnesses. I will have my revenge someday."

"Starviiiin'!" Nora moaned from the side, so the group decided to go back to the campus and have lunch at the cafeteria. Levi excused himself while he went for a shower.

LXVI_

Levi winced slightly as he put on a fresh shirt. The large black spot on his chest where the Boarbatusk had connected was hurting, though he didn't think anything was broken. The talk he had earlier with headmaster Ozpin bothered him much more.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, sir."

"Is that so?"

"You know that you can talk to me, or Glynda if something is bothering you?"

"Of course."

"Good." Ozpin took hold of one of the screens on his desk and turned it to him. Two videos were playing. One showed him emptying the drum of hus machinegun at Cardin, the ither showed him sitting in the locker room, fiddling with his pistol and conversing with nothing bubut thin air. Levi remembered both, but he didn't remember him putting his pistol to his temple and pulling the trigger. It clicked, the magazine was empty.

"I had a talk with Dr. Carter. Several actually. She has explained that your... siblings before you, have exhibited very serious psychological... let's call them shifts. She has also explained to me that these conditions are, most likely, directly connected to your biological origins. She hasn't given me any exact details, but she has informed me that your genetic profile is very similar to some very dangerous individual. Do you know about this?"

"Yes."

"Now I don't think that behaviour is directly connected to a person's genetic heritage, like some people still think. However, dispositions for mental strains and illnesses, can be passed down through generations. Dr. Carter has explained to me that, how do I say that... the satisfaction of some of your more... primal urges, can help you gain more control over your mental state. How do you feel about that?"

"With all due respect, sir, headmaster. What is your point?"

A few seconds of silence hung between them before Ozpin spoke up again.

"There is a large concentration of Grimm in the Beacon Forest, not too far from the schoolgrounds. Normally I'd send a second or third year team to eliminate them, but from what I've seen and heard, you would be more than capable of doing that. Clear your head a bit."

"What... what do you think I'd do?"

"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Able. Me and Glynda, we don't think that you'd intentionally hurt someone if you were able to avoid that. However, with the information I've received from the foundation-"

"You doubt that I would be able to."

"We have to consider the possibility at least. I do apologise." The headmaster stood up, filled a cup with coffee and walked over to him. Levi took it and took a sip. It was boiling hot, but he didn't care. His mind was racing.

"I'm unsure how to explain it." A start at least.

"Everyday, I remember a bit more of my past. I think that I'm much older than I look. The things, my memories... are bad."

"You remember the end of your world."

"But I don't feel anything. Not for the things that were done to me, not for the things I've done. I know right from wrong, sir. I know that I should be horrified over the things I've done. Or scared, or angry, but I just feel... I don't know. Sad, maybe."

"I am in no way accusing you of anything, Mr. Able. I just wanted to talk to you about the possibility to take certain actions. We have a formidable psychiatrist on campus. Dr. Ilona Kim. You can talk to her. However, Dr. Carter has suggested that you try a less complicated method."

"Listening."

"Venting. She said that you might have to relieve stress by... well, hunting. The cluster of Grimm in the surrounding woods might help you to get rid of whatever you are accumulating in that mind of yours. Therefore, I'll give you a special mission. Thin out the Grimm population in the Beacon Forest. Just dont burn the woods down."

"Yes sir."

LXVI_

As soon as the first Grimm charged at him, Levi felt a surge. A rage deep inside him that asked to be unshackled, let loose on the world. A black beast that thirsted for blood. He answered it.

It had been early in the morning when he arrived at the forest, now it was almost noon. Spent bullet casings littered the trampled ground and clawmarks adorned the splintered and destroyed remains of what had been strong and old trees. Another tree shook under the force as one of the last few creatures was slammed against it. Bones cracked and snapped and the thing went limp, but Levi was on the next one already.

He had discarded his rifle a while ago. Without ammunition it was as useless as a broken pipe. His knife was lodged up to the hilt in a tree on the other side of the clearing. He had left it there after a Beowulf had dodged one of his attacks. Since then, he had been fighting with his bare hands, using his handgun very sparsely to conserve ammunition. He wasn't concerned though. None of the Grimm he had encountered were strong enough to do any real damage to him. Sure, if he wasn't careful, they might break a few bones, in fact he was sure that at least a few ribs had given in when one of the Boarbatusks had managed to catch him unaware. It hurt. It hurt like hell, but he kept going.

He had been through so much worse.

He kicked the Ursa in the knee and heard the sickening crack of the cap splitting in half. It howled and fell to the ground, giving him a short window to scan his environment before finishing it off. He backpedaled as he noticed something red in his peripheral vision. Bringing the wailing Ursa between himself and the new element, he crouched and drew his handgun.

LXVI_

Pyrrha Nikos was a capable fighter. The most capable in Beacon even, according to a large number of people. She herself would never allow herself to indulge in such sentiments as she was her own strictest critic. Improvement was always possible, necessary even, to become a strong and capable huntress. This was the reason, why she would venture into the forest a few times a week. Partly to meditate, partly to go a few practice rounds against straw dummies in relative private. She never went far beyond the bounds of the campus. Only a few dozen meters, just in case she had to evacuate from a particularly large group of Grimm, even though those almost never dared to come close to school grounds.

Not once since she had established her little private training ground, she had been disturbed or discovered by anyone except for the occasional stray Ursa Minor. That was why she immediately recognised the presence of someone else. Not particularly willing to disclose what was basically a safe haven for her, she conducted a short silent search and soon spotted the intruder on one of the few trampled pathways further into the forest.

At first, she didn't recognise Levi, since he was wearing the black armoured suit he had already used in his combat exercise with Cardin. From a strap across his torso hung a menacing looking assault rifle and he dragged something behind him. She used the scope of her own rifle to get a better look of what it was.

The body of a Creep and an old one, judging from the size of the bone plating and spikes that jutted from it's shoulders and spine. Apparently Levi had bound it's legs and arms, but it was still alive. It thrashed and howled from time to time and only quieted down when Levi delivered a nasty kick to one of it's sides. Apparently it was allowed it's whimpering. As unsettling as it was, it also fascinated Pyrrha. Observations of Grimm feeling or even acting in self preservation were rare, almost nonexistent. Seeing one, doing what came down to begging for it's life was scary, especially since Pyrrha knew Levi to be a kindhearted man. Whatever he had lived through before, Pyrrha had always been sure he regretted it.

Had.

Then the massacre started.

 _AN: Hey! Still not sure where the story is going, but I'm sure, I'll get there. Provided I don't dig my own plotholes that is. However I'm trying to write a bit more. Also thanks for the kind words I've received by PM and in the review section. It was received with a feeling of warmth and a smile. Seriously, thank you._


	9. Plan

Pyrrha stared into the barrel of the blocky, matte black handgun. Somehow, the way that Levi's gloves strained over his knuckles and were almost entirely coated in Grimm blood, made it look scarier than it should be for her. He recognized her and lowered his weapon. The Grimm was still writhing between them, occasionally snapping at his black armoured form, even though he was far out of its range.

Levi started walking over to her and casually put two rounds through the skull of the creature, which started to dissolve immediately. She stood up too. No use keeping herself hidden.

He took off his helmet as he crossed the five meter line. His face was coated in sweat and his hair was dishevelled and stuck to his forehead. He stopped two meters from her. Pyrrha's heart was pounding so hard, she was sure it would jump out of her chest.

"I'm... um... how much did you see?"

Him propping the cuffed Creep up on a wooden cross? The cuts, the stabs? The packs of Grimm closing in? And the way he had slaughtered them?

The clearing still looked as if one of Atlas's gunships had raked the area with fire from their naval artillery. How could he still be alive?

"Everything." She wasn't able to voice anything more than a whisper, but apparently he understood.

"You weren't supposed to. I thought nobody was here."

"I... I come here to practice sometimes. Or to... get a break from the people."

He nodded. Then he walked across the clearing, picking up his rifle, as well as the discarded magazines and his knife, which was still embedded in a tree. He yanked it out with no big effort and sheathed it, before he walked back to her.

"Why a break from people?" He started again, after a few moments of rather uncomfortable silence.

"Well..." Pyrrha unconsciously shifted her weight. Normally, she would be unwilling to talk about her celebrity status. Part of why she valued her team, Jaune to a larger extent even, was that they didn't care about her fame. They saw her as a normal girl. She thought Levi might fall into this category as well. He knew nothing of her, except what she told him and what had happened between them while she unlocked his aura. She regretted losing composure back then, even though she was unable to place why.

"I get recognised sometimes. I've been a tournament fighter back in Mistral amd had a bunch of brand deals."

"You're a celebrity then?"

"Please don't..."

"I get it." He cut in and produced his pack of cigarettes from his vest. "I know how heavy reputation can feel on your shoulders."

"You were famous?" She asked with genuine curiosity. Levi loved this about the people here. No one he had met had been as calloused or apathetic as the people back on earth. Part of the reason for this could be that most people here were ripped right out of high school animes, but he enjoyed it. It took his mind off the morbid memories and horrible truths that slowly gnawed away at his sanity. Now that he thought about it, Sixty Six had been silent for a long time now. Hopefully it was not a calm before the storm. Hopefully the fact that he and not the voice in his head, had decided to slaughter almost sixty Grimm, was not another representative of his mental health.

"Infamous, might be a more fitting term."

"Oh... What did you do?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

She nodded, he sighed and took another drag of his cigarette.

"I was leader of a killteam. Somewhere towards the end, the foundation had realised that they had neither the resources, nor the manpower to reliably contain all the anomalous entities. You know, some of them had the potential to end my world on their own. In the end, most of them broke containment anyway. Earth... Zero never had a chance... Sit down with me." He pushed the burned down cigarette against the sole of his boot to extinguish it and put it in one of his pockets.

"We were sent out to destroy all those entities, skips we called them, which the Foundation deemed to dangerous. Well and while futile in the end, me and my team were actually quite good at it." He stopped to let Pyrrha sort the information out herself. After a while she spoke.

"There is a Foundation here on Remnant, right? Does this mean, this might happen here too?"

"Well, apart from the Grimm, the aura, the semblances and this world's weird fascination with airships, I haven't found anything yet that I would say was anomalous enough to be worried. Everything is different here."

"What were you doing with the Grimm?" She asked suddenly. Levi was taken aback by the sudden change in her tone. Normally she sounded calm and friendly, before, she had sounded unsure, just now, her tone had been sharp. Almost accusing.

"I was... venting." How much more stupid could that have been phrased?

"Why? Why would you do this?" She sounded pleading now. The accusing tone was almost gone. She wanted to understand. Her initial shock was apparently overcome and Levi felt he owed her the explanation. Not like everyone he knew here didn't already know about the Foundation and what happened to earth.

"You need to know... I wasn't born. I was, well, cultivated. In an artificial womb, with the genetic material of other... people."

"Oh." Pyrrha cast her gaze to the ground, apparently thinking about something. "So you don't have parents?"

"No."

"Where did you spend your childhood? Who took care of you?"

"When I was activated, my body was already on a development standard of a sixteen year old. I don't remember my childhood, because as much as I can remember, I've never been a child."

"That sounds terrible."

"You can't miss what you never had. However, I wasn't the only one. I think I had several... I don't know... biological siblings? Others who were made from the same, or at least similar information as me."

"What happened to them?" He noticed her voice was wavering. Undoubtedly she was not far from crying. Another thing he liked about this world. Everybody seemed so innocent, well the younger ones at least. He would also have to exclude Blake from this sentiment. She seemed as if she had seen her fair share of misery before.

"They died. Most went insane and became violent. I only know of myself two others who were able to stay sane. The day they woke me up, the last of our kind went mad. They got me out to kill him, before he could kill one of my sisters, but thy were too late. I didn't make it in time."

"She was... normal?"

He chuckled. It felt nice talking to Pyrrha about things. He had the impression that she genuinely wanted to know.

"As normal as possible, given the circumstances. I didn't know her. She was just another casualty back then. However, when they explained everything to me, it felt weird."

Somewhere between now and the start of their little QA, Pyrrha had scooted closer to him. Levi had just now realised it. The warmth that her body radiated was unfamiliar, though not unwelcome.

"What happened to the other one?"

"Sixty Seven?" He thought back to that day. Weird, how he now remembered his very first day as if it was yesterday. The smoke, the concrete beneath his bare feet, the sickening squelching as he waded through the remains of several staff members, torn apart by this madman, this... monster. The triumphant feeling as he stood over the cooling corpse of Sixty Seven, several of his own fingers bent and broken and his arms covered in blood up to his elbow. The fear as he saw the young woman lie in one of the corners, a piece of metal through her abdome and blood running down her chin. She had smiled at him then, the expression etched on her face permanently as she passed away.

"I killed him. It was the first thing I ever did. Somehow I've felt like this was an omen for how my life would be."

Again, both of them said nothing. Levi feared that he maybe had shared too much too fast. He knew that his history could seem bleak and brutal to "outsiders", but he had never known a different life. Perhaps now was his time to become someone else. A somewhat happy person, even though he had a long way ahead of him.

Pyrrha held back her tears. She was, had always been, a very empathetic person, able to see the other point of view, but how could she even try to understand Levi? He still had not answered her question as to why he had sought the battle with these Grimm, but she felt the answer slowly dawning on her. If most other siblings of his had gone insane, then maybe there was a tendency. Maybe Levi too had this disposition, only that he had been able to control it. Would be able to control it, hopefully indefinitely. Was there something they could do? Some way they could help? The others? Her team? She?

"It is nice here." He suddenly said. "I don't remember ever feeling so much at peace. Even now." Levi started to fiddle with some of the straps on his vest.

"What I just did... well, I'm not made for peace, even though I like it. My mind starts running amok when I have to stand down. It starts to... trick me. It's for the best like this."

He almost jumped as he felt Pyrrha's arms wrap around him. She was now quietly sobbing into his shoulder, which confused him. His whole story didn't concern her directly. Everything was in the past now, irrefutable and unchangeable and even though he knew that it had a rather negative impact on people unfamiliar with the matter, he wouldn't have expected such an emotional response from the red haired girl.

Tentatively he returned her embrace, his gloved hand resting idly on her shoulder. He enjoyed this, he realised with a slight feeling of guilt. He knew that he was supposed to keep everyone else at an arm's length. His dangerous disposition, as well as the inevitability of his to end up in some kind of mortal danger, warranted such. In the past, he had always managed. He knew that Karin had at some point shared his infatuation for her, but he had managed to keep their relationship one of friendly professionalism. Then again, he had been at war back then, as well as her superior officer.

"Everything is different here." He repeated and reassuringly patted her back. "You guy's have enough going on as it is. No need to Break a sweat over someone like me. But I appreciate it. It feels good to talk about it."

She whiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she disentangled herself from him. Then she slapped him lightly against his head. There was a smile on her face, even though her eyes were still red from crying.

"You know how stupid that sounds, right?" He gave her confused look.

"We're your friends you dumbass!" She pushed him playfully, laughing and now he couldn't suppress a small laugh either. "If you need help, we will help you. You can talk to us. To me."

LXVI_

Cinder grinned. Everything was going according to plan. The preparation for the festival were in full swing, the council in their unending paranoia had effectively occupied Vale with their airfleet and her and her team's infiltration of Beacon had been a full success. Ember and Mercury had managed to procure a base of operations and had established contact with the local White Fang cells and Torchwick had made astounding progress procuring the dust reserves necessary for their plans. The only possible hindrances for her plans were the few new unknowns.

The new student, the untraceable paramilitaries and Ozpin. The latter had been an enigma for her since she had started her efforts. By now she had accepted that she probably would never be able to uncover his whole nature. It didn't matter though. As soon as her plan was in motion, he would fall, together with his school.

The new student, Levi Able, was a much more recent mystery. There were no records of his existence prior to a few months, which was peculiar. Had she not been so adverse of preemptive speculations, she would have thought him to be some kind of covert element. Maybe inserted by the council to monitor the headmaster, or even placed there by Ozpin himself to uncover conspiracies within his own area of influence. However, this seemed unlikely.

Levi Able had been far to showy in his demonstrations in combat class to be able to move somewhat undetected among the student body. He also didn't seem to have any connections outside of Beacon.

The paramilitaries were a different brew altogether. This organisation, whoever they were, seemed to be highly competent, secretive and ruthless in the pursuit of their goals. Cinder had received reports of several raids which could be loosely connected to the white choppers and faceless soldiers. Apparently they mostly moved in at dawn, struck hard and fast and vanished before any reaction could be orchestrated. Sometimes though, their operations were completely nonviolent. Numerous reports told of police forces belonging to the respective kingdoms, locking down whole living areas while personnel in heavy protective equipment and most of the time even hazmat-suits performed all kinds of strange procedures. Most of the time, their departure was marked with a some kind of transport moving off. What they were carrying, nobody ever knew or couldn't remember.

The supposed raids of the Foumdation on White Fang positions were always carried out with astounding speed and brutality. It was uncommon for the attackers to secure a site completely. Their goal seemed to be primarily to extract something or someone and pull back before reinforcements could be organised. However these raids were far between and not of much interest for Cinder. She couldn't care less for the death of a few faunus. Not that she harbored any ill will towards their kind in particular, but for her, they were a tool. Like a gun or a wrench and as such, would sometimes take a hit.

"But what if he gets in our way? People say he is on par with the Nikos girl." Mercury was arguing with Emerald in the back of the room. Where Emerald was following Cinder with almost fanatical zeal, Mercury tended to take a far mor sceptical approach, even though he wasn't any less loyal. She hated yo admit it, but she valued both of them as much for their fighting prowess as for their character traits.

"He is just a mindless brawler. Much like the Xiao Long girl or this one with the hammer. If you throw enough punches, some are bound to hit."

"If you say so. I'd remain careful. The stories you hear are impressive."

Cinder decided it was her cue. "If you think it necessary, you can keep an eye on him, Mercury. It can't hurt to be in the know about the second best fighter in Beacon."

"Third best!" Emerald piped up. "After you and Pyrrha Nikos."

"Probably." Cinder muttered. She would never tell them, but if the stories she had heard were true, he could pose a serious problem.

LXVI_

"And you are sure? You certainly fulfil all the requirements. We are sure that we could find a way to let you participate in the single rounds."

"I'm sure. It's fine. Im perfectly content with watching from the sidelines."

Glynda Goodwitch eyed Levi for a second before turning back to her scroll.

"Very well. But then we would have to postpone your integration into one of the teams until after the festival. The rosters are currently full and we would like to avoid any switch ups during such an important event."

"Of course."

There was a moment of silence while Professor Goodwitch typed something on her scroll. Then she sighed and looked at him.

"Mr. Able, I have to ask you. What is your ambition here? You scored full marks across the board and your combat skills are exemplary. If unbound by tournament or practice regulations I would even rank you among the top fighters ever attending Beacon, but I am unable to see a drive there. Don't you have any goal?"

Levi hesitated. His whole life (even until his death), his sole existence had been based on fighting and killing. War was part of his character. He had never even wasted a thought on becoming something else than the perfect soldier. He spent his time practicing his shooting, martial arts and tactical awareness. When Ruby had at one point challenged him in a game of "Urban Brawl", something that she had called a beat-em-up-game, his mind had been blown. Sure, he had seen computer graphics before, but he had never had time to actually try a video game. All his virtual experience boiled down to augmented reality tools to aid him in combat and scientific and strategical applications. The occurrences where he realised that a civilian life, or even a period off duty was a completely alien concept for him, where piling up. Now Glynda asked him for his drive, his goal in life. How could he explain that?

 _What is there to explain? We are a machine. Fine tuned to destroy the enemies of mankind... well and faunuskind now._

Great. Now here I was, thinking I got rid of you. Don't think I have forgotten about the trouble you caused in the club that other night.

 _Trouble? I think we were on the same page back then. Don't try to deny it, man!_ _Besides, who's decision was it to go into the woods to rough up some of these Grimm things?_

Shut it.

 _Tell her what we are. I mean, I'm pretty sure she already knows, but maybe she needs to hear it from you. Like that hot ginger girl yesterday._

"Miss Goodwitch, since I can remember, my purpose was to either protect those who can't protect themselves, or when this was no viable option anymore, to strike at those who mean harm. I am a soldier. That's all I know. I have no interest in prestige or fame."

 _Listen! Not a single attempt at self deception here. Progre-_

Shut the fuck up!

Glynda again regarded him for a moment, before speaking.

"Very well. How are you feeling otherwise? Have you been able to visit the forest?"

How everyone seemed to dance around the topic that he needed to kill something sometimes. It was tha piece of Able in him, he was sure. 076 had been described as the incarnation of destruction in the file Dr. carter had given him.

"I have destroyed the elements the headmaster has pointed out to me. And yes, I think it helped."

"That's good to hear. If we have anything it's an abundance of Grimm for you to hunt. Maybe next time, we'll attach you to one of the third or fourth year teams when they are dispatched for a mission." Again she typed as she spoke. Levi had the suspicion that everything he said was compiled and sent directly to the headmaster, who in turn would report to Carter, or somebody else within the Foundation.

"Mr. Able, I am glad that you have agreed to these weekly meetings. I think we are done here for now, unless you want to tell me anything else."

He shook his head.

"Very good. However today, we have someone else her who would like to meet you. I'm sure you can sacrifice a few more minutes of your free time?"

They had been here for thirteen minutes now. Surely these conversations would become longer the more often they would conduct them, but for now, Levi had nothing to complain about. Also, Goodwitch, Ozpin, Port, Ooblek and anyone from the staff were essentially superior officers for him. If they told him to stay, he would. He nodded.

The doors behind him opened and a man in a white officers uniform, as well as a young woman in a military styled dress entered. He was tall, broad shoulders, neatly and practically styled hair and clean shaven. She was almost a carbon copy of Weiss Schnee, apart from her being taller and the minimal difference in their hairstyles. He would be damned if the two werent related. They even smelled alike.

He had a piece of metal above his eyebrow, Levi suspected it served some kind of prosthetic use and radiated an air of authority only typical to individuals in leading military positions. A general most likely.

Levi immediately stood up, his back straight, feet apart shoulder wide and his arms at his side. His eyes straight forward. That was until he heard a deep chuckle from his right.

"At ease, soldier." He felt a hand on his shoulder and complied, relaxing his stance and clasping his hands behind his back.

"My name is General James Ironwood, commander of the Atlesian military." Levi noticed the hand he presented and shook it deftly. It felt strange. If this was a prosthetic too, it was very advanced, since the General seemed to have precise control over it. Maybe Remnant was further developed than he gave it credit. Such augmentations had been usual on earth back then, still he found it impressive.

"This is my aide, Winter Schnee. I believe you might be acquainted with her sister." He knew it! He almost felt proud of his combinatorial abilities, until he thought about how obvious the connection had been.

"And you must be Levi Able. I've heard much of you. A formidable fighter I hear."

"One among many, general, sir."

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Able. Killing an adult Nevermore in unarmed combat is something that not many people can take pride in, let alone live to tell."

"I didn't really tell anyone, sir."

"That's what social media is for, son. You obviously don't use too many of the platforms, otherwise you'd know of your reputation here at Beacon."

Great. Another thing to keep tab on. As if the discussions with his own schizophrenic pet personality wasn't enough.

"Well, we also had a little conversation with headmaster Ozpin this afternoon. Since me and my forces are responsible for the security during the festival, we managed to get a short brief out of him. Your arrival was part of it too, obviously. However we are not just here to chat, I'm afraid. Specialist Schnee!"

The young woman stepped forward, a scroll in her arm. This was going to become a briefing, Levi was sure.

"Foundation contacts have vouched for your confidentiality and preliminarily clearecleared our request, so we'd like to ask for your assistance in observing, identifying and if necessary disrupting White Fang operations during the festival. You would be acting as a covert asset, primarily focusing on reconnaissance and support." She swiped at her tablet and a map of Vale appeared between the four present. It showed the city, some areas outside the walls, Beacon Forest as well as the red Forest (Levi still needed to ask for it's name) and the opulent floating stadium that would serve as a collosseum for the Vytal Tournament. Levi noticed several diagrams and three dimensional models which either displayed a simulation of motorised and foot traffic, or actually showed live fed information. He had to admit being impressed.

"Of course, prime locations for attacks by the White Fang would be the stadium, the airports and the numerous markets if they wanted to maximise the damage done." She cropped these locations out and enlarged them. Levi had already entered his analytic mode.

"Has the White Fang conducted attacks like this before? With the goal to cause as many casualties as possible?"

"Not often. However they try to demonstrate their superiority over humankind, as well as over the international council. If they wanted to show the people that we are powerless, they'd do it here."

"Ozpin has specifically discouraged the presence if the atlesian military and I can understand him. However I still think, a large scale show of force is the best course of action. We can show these terrorists how powerful we actually are." Ironwood said, his back even straighter then before, but somehow a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Hm." Levi was still pacing around the 3D model. "Zealous fanatics can't be deterred by posting battleships and soldiers everywhere. Their advantage is that they are virtually invisible and ready to die for their cause. But having a quick reaction force on site is certainly advantageous. Having air superiority when anybody can have an airship helps too."

"We are posting automated sentries at all strategically important spots and will implement a thorough inspection of everyone who enters the stadium. That way, we can minimise the risk of explosives or weapons getting to close to these areas." Winter commented as she slowly rotated the 3D stadium and highlighted all exits as well as possible entry points.

"You're using automated drones?"

LXVI_

 _AN: Sorry for the weird cut here, but my crappy phone isn't capable of processing any more words within a single document, so I'll continue this in the next chapter._


End file.
